Long-press a paragraph to send danmaku
"Don't move." Rowan's hand locked around Tessa's wrist before she could reach for the sealed door. "The next thing you touch will kill you."
"Then take your hand off me and let me pick the fun way to die."
His grip tightened. Heat pushed through his glove and into her skin, sharp enough to make her teeth click. Behind them, the vault door gave one last metal groan. Black seams crawled across it, glowing red as the Council's lock finished welding shut.
In front of them, the dark breathed.
Not air. Something wet and slow moved behind the stone walls.
Tessa stared at the door. "You said the seal could open it."
"I said it could open almost anything."
"That's a pretty important word to leave out when we're running for our lives."
"You were busy stealing it."
"You were busy trying to cut my throat."
"I changed my mind."
"How romantic."
Rowan stepped closer, forcing her back against the cold vault door. His shoulders blocked the faint red glow. He had blood along his jaw, a split at his brow, and the kind of calm that made her want to punch him again.
His eyes dropped to the living seal wrapped around her forearm.
The thing pulsed under her skin like a second heartbeat.
"It wants power," he said. "Give it mine."
Tessa laughed once. "No."
"You want to keep breathing?"
"Also yes."
"Then stop being stupid."
"You first."
The seal tightened.
Tessa's breath snapped out. Pale lines flashed from her wrist to her elbow, burning hot beneath the skin. Her knees buckled, but Rowan caught her by the waist and held her upright.
His hand landed hard against her back.
Too warm. Too steady.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
"Nothing."
"It heard you."
"It hears everything."
The whisper came again, this time inside her skull.
Borrow.
Tessa shoved Rowan's chest. "Get out of my head."
"I'm not in your head."
"Then why can I hear you breathing?"
His mouth went flat. "Because you're standing six inches from me."
She looked down. A thin silver chain of light ran from the seal across her wrist, over the back of her hand, and disappeared beneath Rowan's sleeve.
Tessa went still.
"You said the chain only stopped you from lying."
"I said it stops your heart when you lie."
"That was not the same thing."
"It is now."
The seal pulled.
Rowan's arm jerked forward. Tessa's palm slammed against his chest. Something burst between them. Power rushed through his body and into hers, hot and violent, filling her bones with white fire.
She screamed.
Rowan caught her face in one hand. "Don't fight it."
"Go to hell!"
"You want control? Take the current. Don't let it drag you."
"I don't know how!"
"Then listen."
"I hate your teaching style."
"You hate being weak. There's a difference."
The vault floor cracked beneath her boots.
Tessa felt the power moving through her, searching for somewhere to settle. It found every cut, every bruise, every place her body had failed her during the run through the lower tunnels. The pain sharpened. Then it vanished.
Her lungs opened.
Her heartbeat steadied.
The seal's burn cooled to a hard, bright pressure around her wrist.
Rowan watched her face. "Breathe."
"I'm trying."
"No. You're holding it."
"Maybe I don't want your power inside me."
His thumb brushed the corner of her mouth, wiping away blood she hadn't noticed. "You already took it."
The touch lasted half a second too long.
Tessa slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me."
"Then stop falling into me."
"I was pushed."
"By the thing you stole."
"You keep saying stole like the Council sent you a thank-you note for locking it in a monster vault."
A heavy thump rolled through the dark.
Both of them turned.
The sound came from the passage ahead. A metal grate rattled. Something scraped claws across stone.
Rowan drew the short blade at his hip.
Tessa reached for the knife hidden in her boot.
He caught her hand before she could pull it free. "Stay behind me."
"Try ordering me again."
"Fine. Stay where I can keep you alive."
"That better?"
"No."
The grate burst inward.
A Rift Hound squeezed through the opening, all hooked limbs and plated black hide. Its head split open down the middle, revealing a ring of pale teeth. Red tracker marks glowed along its neck.
Tessa's stomach dropped.
"Council hound," she whispered.
"It followed the seal."
"You said the vault blocked trackers."
"It did."
"Then why is it here?"
Rowan's gaze cut to her glowing wrist. "Because you powered up."
The hound lunged.
Rowan moved first. He shoved Tessa sideways and drove his blade into the creature's shoulder. The impact threw him into the wall. The hound snapped at his head.
Tessa grabbed the chain of light between them.
"What are you doing?" Rowan barked.
"Borrowing more."
"Don't."
"You just told me to control it."
"One pulse was enough."
"Then keep up."
She pulled.
The seal answered with a violent flash.
Rowan's power ripped through her again, stronger this time. Her fingers went numb. Blue-white fire crawled over her palm and jumped into the hound's plated neck.
The creature shrieked.
Tessa clenched her teeth. "Is that supposed to happen?"
"No."
"You sound worried."
"I'm deciding whether to cut off your arm."
"Get in line."
The hound twisted. Its claws raked across Rowan's coat and tore through the leather beneath. He grunted, caught its lower jaw, and forced the snapping halves apart.
"Now!" he shouted.
Tessa drove her glowing hand into the creature's chest.
Power detonated.
The hound flew backward and crashed through the broken grate. Its body hit the far wall with enough force to shake dust from the ceiling. It dropped, twitching, black blood spreading beneath its armor.
For one second, neither of them moved.
Then the seal screamed.
Not in her head this time.
Every tracker in the city answered.
A pulse hammered through the vault. Red lights ignited along the walls, one after another. Somewhere far above, warning bells began to ring.
Rowan grabbed Tessa by both shoulders. "What did you do?"
"I killed the thing trying to eat us. You're welcome."
"You lit up the entire grid."
"The entire grid?"
"Every Council tracker from Greyharbor to the outer wall knows where we are."
Tessa stared at her wrist. The seal had gone quiet, but the lines beneath her skin still glowed like banked coals.
"How long?" she asked.
"Until they cut through the vault?"
"Until they find us."
Rowan looked toward the passage. "They already have."
A voice crackled through the dead hound's collar.
"Warden Vale. Step away from the thief."
Tessa's laugh came out thin. "They called you by name."
"They know me."
"Are you going to answer?"
"No."
"Good. I was worried you'd start behaving."
He dragged her away from the wall and toward the dark passage. His hand closed around the chain of light instead of her wrist. The contact still pulled her close enough that her shoulder brushed his chest.
"Move," he said.
"Where?"
"Down."
"That is not a direction. It's a bad life choice."
"The old drainage shaft is below the vault."
"And what's in it?"
"Things that don't work for the Council."
"That wasn't reassuring."
"It wasn't meant to be."
They crossed the vault floor. The dead hound twitched behind them.
Tessa kept her eyes on Rowan's back. The torn coat showed a dark line of blood under his ribs. He didn't slow down.
"You're hurt," she said.
"I'm fine."
The seal constricted around her wrist.
Tessa stumbled. "You're lying."
Rowan stopped so fast she collided with him.
His palm landed against the wall beside her head. His face came down close, his breath warm against her cheek.
"I wasn't talking to you," he said.
"The seal doesn't care."
"It cares when I lie to you."
"Why?"
"Because you're chained to me."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
The red tracker lights swept across the vault behind him. His jaw tightened when the glow reached the blood on his side.
Tessa poked the torn coat. "Take it off."
His eyes sharpened. "Careful."
"Your coat. Don't make it weird."
"You made it weird."
"You were the one pinning me to a wall."
"You were about to wander into a sealed shaft."
"I can make my own mistakes."
"Not while you're carrying my power."
He caught her fingers before she could touch the wound again. Their hands locked between them. His glove was rough. Her palm still burned from the borrowed energy.
Neither of them let go.
Tessa felt his pulse through the leather.
Steady. Controlled. Almost irritatingly alive.
"If you die," she said, "what happens to me?"
"You die slower."
"That's your comfort speech?"
"You asked."
"And if I die?"
His fingers tightened around hers. "I don't know."
The answer hit harder than it should have.
A sharp metallic click echoed behind them.
Rowan pulled Tessa against him and turned, putting his body between her and the sound. His arm locked around her waist. Her back pressed to his chest, and his breath touched the top of her ear.
"Don't move," he whispered.
"You keep saying that."
"Because you keep moving."
A small black device rolled across the floor and stopped at their boots.
Tessa recognized the red crystal set in its center.
"Tracker flare," she mouthed.
Rowan's arm tightened. "When it opens, every armed unit nearby gets our position."
"How nearby?"
"Close enough to hear us die."
The device began to unfold.
Tessa looked up at him. "Can you stop it?"
"Yes."
"Will you?"
"Not without burning through the seal."
"So burn through it."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain faster."
His mouth brushed her hair when he spoke. "The more power you borrow, the tighter the chain gets. Three full charges, and the seal starts taking payment."
"What kind of payment?"
"Memory. Blood. Years. Pick one."
"You said nothing about payment."
"You didn't ask."
"I was busy not dying!"
The tracker clicked again.
Rowan shoved her toward the passage. "Run."
"What about you?"
"I'll follow."
"That's not a plan."
"It's the one you have."
He struck the tracker with the heel of his boot. The red crystal flared, and the vault filled with a high, cutting tone.
Tessa ran.
The passage narrowed immediately. Stone scraped her shoulders. The borrowed power made every sound too sharp—the grind of Rowan's boots behind her, the distant boots pounding toward the vault, the wet click of the dead hound trying to stand.
"Left!" Rowan shouted.
She turned left without slowing.
A blade of red energy sliced through the passage where her head had been. It struck the wall and showered sparks across her back.
"You could've mentioned the Council had weapons!" she yelled.
"You could've watched where you were going!"
"I was watching the monster!"
"Watch the floor!"
The ground dropped away.
Tessa's foot hit empty space. She pitched forward with a shout. Rowan caught the back of her coat and hauled her against him. His grip stopped her inches from a black shaft filled with moving red light.
"You were saying?" he asked.
"I hate you."
"Good. Stay angry."
"Why?"
"Anger keeps the seal from choosing for you."
He eased her back onto solid stone, but he didn't release her coat. His body stayed close, one hand braced at her hip while the other pointed down into the shaft.
Far below, something screamed.
Tessa swallowed. "That drainage shaft?"
"Yes."
"You said it went down."
"It does."
"You left out the screaming."
"You complain too much."
"You lie too much."
The seal tightened again.
Rowan's face went rigid.
Tessa stared at him. "That wasn't me."
"No."
"It reacted when I called you a liar."
"It reacts to intent."
"So you were lying."
He looked down into the shaft. "I left out the part where the shaft only opens for bonded pairs."
Tessa's mouth went dry. "Bonded pairs?"
"We jump together, or the shaft stays closed."
"And if it stays closed?"
The first Council soldier appeared at the far end of the passage. A silver mask hid his face. Three more raised weapons behind him.
Rowan drew his blade.
"Then they catch us," he said.
Tessa stepped to the edge. "You first."
"No. You have to trust me."
"That's adorable."
"Tessa."
The way he said her name stripped the joke from her mouth.
The soldiers advanced.
"Warden Vale!" one called. "Release the thief and kneel!"
Rowan didn't look back. "They'll kill you the second they separate us."
"You don't know that."
"I know Council procedure."
"And I know men who enjoy giving orders."
His eyes found hers. Up close, the gray in them looked almost silver. His hand reached for hers, then stopped just short.
"Take my hand," he said.
"If I do, you're not dropping me."
"If I drop you, I go with you."
"That sounds like a threat."
"It is a promise."
The soldiers fired.
Rowan seized her hand and jumped.
The shaft opened like a mouth.
Red light swallowed them. Tessa's stomach lurched, and Rowan's arm locked around her waist. Her fingers clawed into his coat as the world twisted sideways.
"Don't let go!" he shouted.
"I wasn't planning to!"
"You are!"
"Your coat is ripping!"
"Then hold tighter!"
The seal burned through both their hands.
For one terrifying second, Tessa felt Rowan's memories brush against hers—not pictures, not words. A battlefield. A door covered in the same living marks. A woman's voice saying his name like she had every right to it.
Then the shaft threw them onto stone.
Tessa landed on top of Rowan.
His hands caught her shoulders before her forehead struck his. Their faces stopped inches apart. His breath moved between them, hot and rough. Her fingers were still twisted in his coat, pressing against the hard line of his chest.
Neither spoke.
The seal pulsed once.
Rowan's gaze dropped to her mouth.
Tessa noticed. Of course she noticed.
She pushed herself upright. "Look somewhere else."
"You were on top of me."
"And now I'm not. Problem solved."
He rose in one smooth motion, keeping hold of her hand. The chain between them glowed brighter in the underground dark.
Behind them, the shaft snapped shut.
Above, the Council soldiers shouted, their voices muffled by stone.
Tessa pulled against Rowan's grip. "Let go."
"No."
"You enjoy this too much."
"Enjoy what?"
"Having me tied to you."
His thumb moved once over her knuckles. "You think I wanted this?"
"You look very comfortable."
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
"You keep saying that like it makes you noble."
"It makes me responsible."
The seal shivered.
A whisper slid through the dark, soft as a child's voice.
"Tess-bird."
Tessa froze.
The nickname hit somewhere no blade could reach. Her mother had used it once. Only once, before she vanished. No one else knew it.
Rowan's grip went hard around her hand.
The seal whispered again.
"Tess-bird, if he ever finds you, don't trust the man who—"
Rowan finished the line, word for word.
"—knows your mother's lullaby."
Tessa turned on him, the borrowed power flaring between their locked hands.
"How the hell do you know that?"