Chapter 44 · The Witness Below

"It already has."

Celia grabbed my arm. "You could die."

"So could Ronan. So could everyone above us."

"You can't save every idiot who makes a bad choice."

I yanked my arm free. "He rejected me in front of the whole city, then decided throwing himself under a gate counted as protection. I can save him from one more stupid decision."

Celia's mouth tightened. "You still want him."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't need to."

The stone lock clicked.

A red line crawled across the old markings.

Ronan's voice came through the shaft. "Mara! Open the core!"

"I'm working on it."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the one you're getting."

I planted my palm against the stone.

The tide seized my wrist.

Pain punched through my shoulder. My blood reversed beneath my skin, dragged toward the lock by something older than the covenant. Red lines flared beneath my hand.

Celia shouted, "Pull away!"

"I can't!"

"Mara, pull away!"

"I said I can't!"

The lock flashed symbols at me.

Three turns.

One break.

A false seal hidden beneath the fourth mark.

"What are you seeing?" Celia demanded.

"A way in.