Chapter 4 · The Name Beneath the Pact

"Get your hand off me, Kane."

His fingers tightened around my bleeding wrist as the black iron door screamed behind us.

The gala music died.

Every guest in the west hall turned toward the sealed wing. Crystal glasses slipped from startled hands. Red wine ran across the marble like fresh blood.

Behind the door, the disaster engine answered with a deep, hungry pulse.

Kane yanked me back and stepped between me and the crowd.

"Don't touch the door again."

"You said my wife's contract gave me access."

"I said it gave you the right to enter. I didn't say it would wake the machine."

"Maybe you should've mentioned that before you let me put my hand on it."

His jaw locked. His coat was torn at the shoulder, and a thin line of blood slipped beneath his collar.

He looked like the gala had personally offended him.

Good. I was starting to feel better already.

The iron door bulged.

The Hart crest burned across its surface. Not painted. Not carved. It moved beneath the metal like something alive.

A woman near the champagne tower screamed.

"Warden! What the hell is happening?"

Kane didn't look away from me.

"Everyone out. Now."

"You heard him!" a guard shouted.

The guests surged for the main doors, shoving and tripping over expensive shoes.

"It's Evelyn Hart!" someone yelled. "She brought the disaster into the house!"

"The Warden married a traitor!"

Kane's hand slid from my wrist to my waist.

"Move."

"Where?"

"To the seal."

I stared at him. "You just told me not to touch it."

"I changed my mind."

"That's not reassuring."

The engine slammed into the door again. The floor kicked beneath my boots.

A chandelier cracked overhead. Glass rained toward the guests still trapped near the archway.

Kane lifted one hand.

The shards stopped six inches above their heads.

For one breath, the whole hall froze.

Then the glass shot sideways and buried itself in the wall.

The guests ran harder.

Black lines crawled from Kane's fingers up his wrist, past his sleeve, and under his collar. His breath caught.

I saw the pain.

He saw me see it.

"Don't ask," he snapped.

"I wasn't going to."

"You were."

"I was going to ask why your magic looks like it's eating you alive."

His gray eyes cut to mine.

He was too close. His palm stayed spread against my waist, heat pushing through my dress. His thumb rested against the edge of my ribs.

"That question is worse."

Another impact shook the door.

The black lines on his arm flared.

Kane shoved me toward the iron seal.

"Put your hand on the center mark."

"You want me to touch the thing trying to rip this house apart?"

"I want you to help me hold it shut."

"You have an entire city under your command. Call someone else."

"The seal has your blood now. It won't answer anyone else."

That hit harder than the shaking floor.

I looked down at my palm. The cut from the door had opened again. Blood slid over my fingers and dripped onto the black stone beneath us.

The engine made a sharp, almost pleased click.

Kane leaned close. His mouth brushed the air beside my ear.

"Evelyn, listen to me. If the breach opens in front of these people, half the hall dies before they reach the street."

"And if I do what you say?"

"You might survive."

"Might?"

His breath warmed my skin. "I don't lie when the odds are this bad."

"You lie all the time. You just call it protecting the city."

His fingers pressed harder into my waist.

"Put your hand down."

"Explain the pact first."

"This isn't the time."

"You knew my blood would react to the engine. You knew the marriage contract could open this wing. What else did you leave out?"

The door split down the center.

A blast of heat tore through the hall. Tables flipped. Curtains caught fire.

Kane dragged me against his chest and turned, taking the force across his back.

The impact drove us both to our knees.

His arm locked around my shoulders. My cheek struck the hard line of his chest. Beneath his shirt, his heart beat too fast.

"Still want an explanation?" he breathed.

"More than ever."

His hand closed around the back of my neck.

"If we don't seal this, there won't be a city left for you to investigate."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

I shoved against him, but he held me there while the breach screamed through the opening.

Black light spilled across the marble.

Voices came with it. Fragments of old disasters. People crying. Walls collapsing. My own voice shouting orders during the rescue that ruined my family.

Then a second voice whispered my name.

Not Evelyn.

Hart.

My blood turned cold.

Kane heard it too. His grip changed.

Not softer.

Tighter.

"Don't listen to it."

"You heard that."

"I said don't listen."

"Why? What did it call me?"

His hand caught my jaw and forced my face toward his.

Heat pressed between us. His breath hitched against my lips, but his eyes stayed locked on mine.

"Don't say it."

"You know my real name, don't you?"

The breach shrieked behind him. The black light crawled over his shoulder and wrapped around my bleeding hand.

Kane's mouth opened.

"Your name beneath the pact is—"