Chapter 28 · The Key in My Head

"Mara, open the door." Elise's voice came through the wood just as Kieran's hand went slack. "Please. He's running out of time."

I froze with my palm pressed to the tunnel wall. Behind me, Kieran lay on his side, one hand clamped over his ribs. Blood slipped between his fingers. The broken shard beside him pulsed with a weak red light.

"How do you know his name?" I demanded.

"Because I can see him. Now open the door."

The old wood shuddered beneath my hand.

Elise had been gone for two years. The Registry had taken her on the night I watched them drag her out of our apartment. They'd told me she ran. They'd told me she was dead. They'd told me enough different stories that I stopped knowing which lie to hate most.

"Mara." Her voice dropped. "Sparrow."

My throat closed.

No one called me that. No one except Elise.

"Say it again," I whispered.

"Sparrow. You were six. You bit Tommy Vale because he stole your red crayon. Then you hid under my bed and made me swear I'd never tell Mom."

My fingers dug into the wood. "That doesn't prove anything.