Chapter 29 · The Vessel in My Blood

"Take your hand off the seal, Evelyn."

Kane caught my wrist before my palm touched the black glass. His grip locked tight enough to hurt.

Behind us, Mara jerked against the iron table. Red lines crawled beneath her gray skin as the registry pulsed under the floor.

"You don't know what it'll pull out," Kane said.

"I know exactly what it pulled out last time." I twisted against him. "My father's name. My blood mark. And half the truth you kept from me."

His fingers tightened. Too warm against my freezing wrist.

"If you open the record, it may use Mara's memory as a bridge."

"Then pull the original order before it kills her."

"That's not how this works."

"No. Apparently, it works by you deciding what I can survive." I yanked harder. "You signed a contract with me, Kane. You don't get to turn me into a locked room."

His jaw clenched.

The seal warmed beneath my hand anyway.

A thin line of light split through the glass. Fire shot across my palm. The contract mark under my skin answered with a vicious sting.

Kane released me like I'd bitten him.

"Evelyn. Step back."

"Make me.