I glanced at the box in my lap. “We should know what’s inside before we sell it.”
My hand hovered over the box’s latch. The energy prickling off it made my skin itch. We couldn’t risk openingthis anywhere public. I turned the box over in my hands, brushing my fingers over the bloodstone at its center. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
“Do you feel that?” I whispered.
Rheya leaned closer. “Is it warm?”
“It feels…alive.”
I touched the rune, and a hum filled the room like a bowstring wound too tight. I traced the tiny lines. Heat rippled up my arm, and I winced.
“You alright?” she asked.
I wrung my hand. “It’s stubborn.”
I tried again, sweat beading as I grabbed for the threads. They twisted away from me.
“Maybe we should?—”
“No.” I gritted my teeth. “Almost got it.”
Brilliant blue ribbons fell into my palm as I pulled. Each thread popped free, lashing welts across my skin. Sparks erupted. The rune flared. It seared my eyes, too bright to look at, but I couldn’t stop.
I’d come too far. Survived Henrik’s mental violation, run from guards, and abandoned Kavi. All for this box.
I wasn’t giving up.
Magic roared through the threads as I yanked them loose, the box blistering my palms.
“Aelie, stop!”
“I can’t.”
The threads bucked wildly. One wrapped around my wrist. Another snapped against my collarbone.
The lines etched into the silver casing glowed white-hot. Smoke rose from the metal. The rune shrieked. Then the final thread fractured, and the rune detonated.
A shockwave burst from the box, slamming into myribs. The attic trembled, and the wooden beams below groaned as energy ricocheted through the space.
Then the floor shattered.
6
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
Oh no.
I slapped a hand over my mouth. The wood beneath us cracked, and jagged fractures raced in all directions, splitting the old boards. Rheya grabbed the box, shoving it back into the satchel.
“Rheya, move!”
I tackled her. The floor dropped.
Dust billowed up in a choking cloud, coating everything gray. We scrambled to our feet, coughing, staring at the gaping hole in our attic.
Rheya peered over the edge. “Fuck me blind.”
Footsteps thundered from below.
