Chapter 18 · The Name on the Debt

The second I let go of Ronan, my knees nearly folded.

Pain ripped through my wrist where the ring sat. Not a sting. Not a burn. It felt like somebody had hooked a wire through my bones and yanked hard enough to pull my whole arm out.

Ronan hit the marble floor beside me with a sound that made my stomach turn.

"Quinn." His voice came out rough. Thin. "Take my hand."

Vera's guards had silver rifles aimed at both of us.

"Nobody moves," Vera said.

Easy for her to say. She wasn't the one shaking so hard her teeth clicked.

Moonfire crawled over my skin in ugly little blue-white sparks. It snapped across the floor, leaving black lines in the marble. One guard flinched back. Another lifted his gun higher.

Vera smiled like she had been waiting all night to see me break.

"There it is," she said. "The part he didn't explain properly. You separate, the bond punishes you. You die, and he gets everything back. His strength. His wolf. His claim.