Chapter 39 · The Heir They Buried

"Carson, move!"

I locked both hands around his marked wrist and pulled.

The tunnel door was already sliding shut. Black seal-lines crawled up his throat, tightening every time he tried to breathe. His boots scraped over the stone while he fought me with one arm and kept his blade aimed at the guards outside.

"Ivy, get through!"

"No."

"That wasn't a request."

"Good. I wasn't asking."

A pulse slammed through the old node.

Carson jerked. The seal climbed to his jaw.

I dug my heels into the floor and hauled him toward the gap. His blood was hot against my palm, slick between our fingers. The door crushed his coat and shrieked against the stone.

"You have three seconds," he rasped.

"Then stop making me waste them."

The guards shouted behind him.

"Warden Rook! Step away from the traitor!"

Carson turned just enough to look at me. His face had gone pale, but his eyes stayed sharp.

"Hear that?" he said. "They still think you're the only criminal in here."

"You are a criminal."

"I know. Pull harder.