Chapter 35 · The Bloodline Beneath the Seal

"Take your hand off me, Ronan. If the gate wants my blood, I'll decide how much it gets."

His fingers locked around my wrist before my palm could touch the black stone.

Water exploded through the chamber behind us. Iron stairs shook. Bolts popped loose. Somewhere above, people screamed while the harbor sirens cut in and out beneath the roar.

Ronan yanked me against his chest.

His coat was soaked through, cold against my back. His body burned behind me. When his mouth brushed my ear, his breath was hot enough to make my skin tighten.

"You don't know what the seventh gate will take."

"Neither do you."

"I know enough."

"You know how to order people around." I twisted in his grip. "That isn't the same thing."

His jaw flexed. Blood ran from his temple to his cheek. He didn't bother wiping it away.

Between us, the gate's core pulsed.

Not like a machine.

Like a living heart.

Each beat punched through my bones. Water lifted from the floor, curled toward the tunnel, then slammed back into the walls. The carved marks around the core flared beneath my skin every time it moved.

Ronan looked toward the flooded passage.