Chapter 20 · Someone's Alive in the Dark

The countdown hits zero and I don't die.

I'm still standing. Still breathing. The bond mark on my wrist is burning so hot I can smell my own skin cooking, but I'm here.

Kieran's on the other side. Bleeding. Trapped with Kells and his enforcers.

"Kieran."

My voice cracks. No answer.

I press my palm flat against the sealed door. It's cold. Smooth. No handle. No keyhole. Just a black surface that swallowed the light when I threw the lock behind me.

"Kieran, can you hear me?"

Nothing.

The cassette player is still clutched in my other hand. Elise's voice is gone. The tape stopped when the countdown hit zero, like it knew.

I shove the player into my jacket pocket and feel along the edges of the door. There has to be a way back. A switch. A seam. Something.

My fingers catch on a groove in the wall to the left of the door. I follow it down, then across.

Another door. Smaller. Hidden in the dark.

I pull.

It opens.

No light on the other side. Just more dark, and a set of stairs going down.

I freeze.