Chapter 15 · The Trial Inside the Lock

"Don't touch her."

Cade's hand clamped around my wrist before my fingers reached the silver lock.

The force of it drove me back against his chest. His blade touched beneath my jaw a second later—cold, sharp, and close enough to steal my breath.

"You heard the copy," he said beside my ear. "She told you to kill me. Now she's telling you to open the lock. Pick one lie and stick with it."

"Let go."

"No."

"Cade."

"Say it again. Maybe your arm will come loose if you sound angry enough."

I twisted hard.

His grip tightened. Heat bled through my sleeve from his palm, steady and infuriating. He had me pinned between his body and the black stone wall. Three feet away, the spirit lock floated in the air.

On the other side stood the thing wearing my face.

The copy smiled.

My smile.

That was the worst part.

"He won't let you reach me," she said. "He never does. He kills you first."

Cade's blade shifted against my throat. "Stop talking."

"She knows what you are."

"I said stop."

"The Institute built her from your stolen pattern," the copy went on. "She has everything you lost. Your gift.