Chapter 25 · The Thirteenth Bell

"Choose," the black bell said through Cade's teeth. "The city above, or the city below."

Cade's knees slammed into the stone.

The chain between us snapped tight. Blue-white light bit into both our wrists, and his body jerked toward the split bell.

Not pulled.

Taken.

His boots scraped across the floor. The crack beneath the bell widened with every inch.

"No." I lunged and caught his coat. "You don't get to drag him anywhere."

Cade seized my forearm before the chain could yank me after him. His palm burned against my skin. His pulse stuttered beneath it.

"Ivy, let go."

"Try that sentence again."

"Let go before it takes you too."

"Better. Still no."

The black bell rang.

The sound punched straight through my skull.

Across the underground chamber, the dead began to speak.

Not scream.

Speak.

Hundreds of voices climbed out of the cracks, each one calling a name. Some belonged to people I'd never met. Others belonged to people erased so long ago that even their families had forgotten their faces.

Then one voice cut through the rest.

"Ivy."

My fingers locked around Cade's coat.

"Elias?"

Cade's head snapped toward me. "Don't answer it."

"You know that voice."