Chapter 26 · What did they put inside you?

He said nothing.

Mara stared at him. "What did they put inside you?"

"We do not have time."

"You keep saying that every time I get close to the truth."

"Because the truth will not save us if we are dead."

"Maybe it is the reason we are going to die."

The fog moved between them.

A shape appeared at the end of the passage. Tall. Thin. A familiar jacket. A familiar limp.

Mara's chest cracked open.

"Eli?" she called.

The shape lifted its head.

Rhys seized her from behind and locked both arms around her.

"Do not go to it."

"Let me go!"

"That is not your brother."

"You do not know!"

"I do. Look at its hands."

Mara looked.

The shape had six fingers on each hand.

Her stomach turned.

The thing smiled with her brother's mouth.

"Mara," it whispered. "He lied to you. He put the mark on your brother himself."

Rhys's grip tightened. "Do not listen."

"It knows about him."

"It is inside the rift. It knows whatever hurts you most."

The creature took one step closer. "Ask him who opened the first door. Ask him why your brother screamed his name."

Mara twisted against Rhys.