Chapter 17 · The Bell Under Her Ribs

"Let me go, Cade, or I swear I’ll tear my own hands off to reach him."

The words came out in Elias’s voice.

Cade’s arm locked across my chest from behind. His other hand caught my wrist before my fingers touched the black crack in the core.

"That isn’t you," he said against my ear. "Ivy, listen to me."

"I am listening. He’s inside me."

"Then fight him."

I drove my heel into his boot.

He grunted. Didn’t let go.

His heat pressed through my torn coat. His breath brushed my temple. Too close. Too familiar. A week ago, I would’ve thrown him into the nearest wall for touching me like this.

Now his grip was the only thing keeping my hand from vanishing into the core.

"You dragged me back," Elias said through my mouth. "You knew what would happen."

Cade’s hold tightened.

"Elias. Get out of her."

"Still giving orders?"

The core pulsed in front of us.

Its cracked surface showed pieces of places that weren’t really there—the academy tower, the dead market, a row of black bells hanging over the city. The tenth bell had stopped moving, but the metal beneath it still twitched.

Eleven was waiting.