Chapter 26 · The Blood Lock

"Don't touch that door, Evelyn."

Kane caught my wrist before my fingers reached the iron latch.

"The tower's coming down."

"Then stop ordering me around and tell me why Lena said the first disaster started under your bedroom."

His grip tightened. Not enough to hurt. Enough to remind me he could drag me back if he wanted.

I looked at his hand, then at his face. "Let go."

Kane released me at once, but he didn't step away. His body blocked half the passage. Heat pressed through his shirt. Smoke scraped my throat while metal screamed somewhere below us.

Behind me, Lena coughed. "The carriers are in there."

Kane's jaw locked. "I know."

"How many?"

He glanced at the sealed door. "Six. Maybe eight."

"Maybe?"

"The lower chambers aren't on any public map."

"Your tower. Your prisoners. Your secret map." I shoved the blood-lock evidence against his chest. "Pick one lie and stick to it."

His eyes dropped to the black metal case in my hand. The case my father left behind. The case Kane hid until the bureau burned around us.

"I never called them prisoners," he said.

"What do you call people strapped under your bedroom?"

"Carriers.