Chapter 26 · Only a Traitor Can Open It

"You have got to be kidding me."

The first black-armored soldier pulled its sword free, and every other corpse behind it did the same.

Dorian shoved me back against the sealed gate. His body covered mine, one arm braced beside my head, the other hand already reaching for the blade at his hip.

"Stay behind me."

"That order stopped working three doors ago."

His eyes cut down to my palm. The royal crest burned there, red and raw, the crown-shaped lines still glowing under my skin.

"Mara."

"Don't use that voice. You put the ring on me."

"You grabbed it."

"You held out your hand and told me it was the only way through. That's not the same thing."

The soldier in front lifted its helmet. There was no face beneath it. Just a strip of dull blue fire where eyes should have been.

Dorian's jaw tightened.

"We can argue after we're alive."

"If we survive, I'm going to make you regret every word you've said to me since Northbreak."

"Get in line."

The corpse stepped forward.

Dorian drew his sword.

The blade struck the soldier's neck hard enough to throw sparks across the stone.