Chapter 35 · The Traitor Under the Throne

"Open it." Kael's voice cut through the smoke still rising from the burned map.

Mira didn't move. Her hand stayed on the hilt of her blade, knuckles white.

"I said open it."

"You think I have the key?" Mira's laugh came out sharp. "My family built the lock. Doesn't mean they gave me the combination."

I pushed off the wall, legs shaking. The floor under the throne was glowing now, faint blue lines tracing out in a pattern I'd seen before. In my dreams. In the split second before every reset kicked in.

"That's a soul-lock," I said.

Kael turned. "You sure?"

"I've died enough times to recognize the signature." I stepped closer. The light pulsed, matching my heartbeat. "It's keyed to me."

"No." Mira moved fast, blocking my path. "You don't know what you're doing."

"Then tell me."

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?" Kael closed in from the other side. "Because right now, those sound like the same thing."

Mira's jaw tightened. She looked at me, then at him, then back at the glowing floor. "If she opens it wrong, the core breaks loose. Everyone in this Keep dies. Everyone in the next three cities dies.