Chapter 33 · Hunted in the Dark

"Don't open that door." I locked both hands around Kael's wrist as the deadbolt dragged itself back.

The metal clicked once.

Then again.

Kael's knife was already in his other hand. Its black edge caught the weak blue light from the broken window. Glass covered his shoulder and the floor around us, but he didn't even look at it. He kept his eyes on the door.

"Let go," he said.

"No."

"Sera."

"If you step into that hall, they will split us apart."

"That's the plan."

"Your plans usually involve me bleeding on your floor."

"You already did that."

The lock snapped open.

A voice slid through the wood before the door moved.

"Choose, Saint. Him or you. One of you walks out alive."

August.

His voice didn't come from the hall. It came from the shard burning beneath my ribs. Every word scraped across my nerves. My knees dipped, and Kael caught me before I hit the floor.

His palm closed around my waist. Heat pressed through my torn shirt. The curse inside me surged toward him, hungry and bright, and I bit down on a cry.

"Don't listen to him," Kael said.

"Easy for you to say.