Lowering me back to my feet, he offers me his arm. “Choose the location of the mark carefully, Nova, because it will appear on your body also.”
It only takes me a moment. The royal rune is inscribed on my right bicep, so the death bond can be on my right forearm.
I take hold of his arm just below his elbow, my fingertips brushing his muscles. “What do I need to do?”
“This usually requires a beast’s claw,” Roman replies. “But you can use your own. Prick your finger so that your blood will mingle with mine. Once I give you permission, gouge deep, Nova. Speak the promise you want me to make as you cut me. But be careful what you ask.”
His description of the process is similar to the blood oath we made—except that the blood oath didn’t really work. This time, I have no doubt the death bond will bind Roman to his promise.
Extending my wolf’s claws, I prick the forefinger of my right hand with my left foreclaw until beads of blood drip from it.
Holding his arm firmly, I focus and think carefully. He told me to gouge deeply—the death bond he already has looks as if it cuts to the bone—and a sliver of anxiety rises.
Roman’s energy coats his skin and my nightmare power twists across it. He quickly turns his palm so that he’s holding my forearm while I’m holding his, both of us gripping each other. A warrior’s grip.
“I swear this death bond on my life,” he says, his furious gaze pinning me. “Now do it.”
My three middle claws dig into his skin. “If I die in Pyra-Mortem while my sisters, Malia and Taniya, are still here, you will use the angel’s weapon to return them to Terra-Centrum as quickly as you can.”
Dragging my claws across his skin, I gasp as sudden pain shoots through my forearm and the claw mark appears on my arm at the same time as it does on his. It burns as badly as the energy from the prison, and I nearly stop.
“Gouge deep,” Roman says through gritted teeth.
With a groan of pain, I continue the mark, raking my claws through his arm and then quickly withdrawing.
Each cut on both of our arms fills with violet light like molten lava, burning as if my arm’s on fire. I throw my head back with a cry as the power between us coils like a ribbon, tightening so much that our arms feel smashed together like one limb.
Then the power releases, and I gasp for breath, aware of Roman’s rapid breathing and the vicious cuts on his forearm, which blaze a second longer than mine. Before I can stare at them, he pulls me close, smoothing the sweat from my forehead, grazing the side of my neck in a soothing sweep.
“The prison won’t want to let your sisters go. You’ll have a fight on your hands, Nova. It will be ten times harder than when you’ve only had to get yourself and your wolves out.”
I give him a nod, refocusing. “Tyrus said his family is imprisoned in there, too. But I don’t think he’s ever tried to get them out. Why don’t their families try?”
“They’re too afraid of being trapped. The fact that you’ve left the prison with the soldiers once was unheard of. Nobody has walked out of there before. Twice is unbelievable, but this third time—and if you bring prisoners out with you—you’ll prove to the demons of Pyra-Mortem just how strong you really are.”
I knew it was a risk, but Roman’s speech brings it home to me. “If my chances are even slimmer now… Then my demon wolves should stay behind. I don’t want to get my sisters out, only to lose my wolves in there. It sounds like I’m lucky they’ve come and gone with me twice already.”
My wolves reveal just how much they hate this plan when they give a united howl of protest. As if they’re coordinating themselves, Luca and Blitz bound to Roman’s side, but Ace snarls at me, padding across to the prison’s front wall and turning back to me with a rebellious stare. Temple joins him, my two fighter wolves clearly indicating I’m not going without them. They’ve already stayed behind once tonight, and it’s clear they won’t do it again.
I give my head a little shake, knowing I won’t change their minds and if I order Ace to do something truly against his nature again—to stay behind—it will break his trust. “Okay,” I whisper. “But we still need to find—”
Awhooshingsound fills the air and the prison walls rapidly shift and slide, forming a series of interconnected pyramids, some larger than others. The front panel slides open right where Ace and Temple stand.
“—the door,” I finish.
I’m not sure it’s a good thing that the prison is making it so easy for me to step inside—it feels like it’s luring me in.
“I’ll be ready to hide your sisters’ energy as soon as you emerge,” Roman says. “It will take me longer to devise a camouflage rune, but I’ll work on it while you’re in there.” He crushes me to him with a fierce kiss. “Your first fight will be convincing your sisters to leave.”
He releases me quickly and I spin and rush into the prison with Ace and Temple on either side of me.
The door slams closed the moment I step foot inside, leaving me in pure darkness, but I quickly call on my demon sight and my wolf’s senses to discern the structure around me. I have no doubt it’s only because of the combination of my powers that I’ve escaped this place twice already and I’m determined that nothing will stop me from leaving it again.
The entryway is far smaller than it was last time, no more than ten square feet. The light beam starts only a few steps away and leads through an opening on the opposite wall that will force me to crouch to move safely through it.
Stepping onto the beam with my wolves, we drop and huddle when the beam shoots forward, moving so fast that our surroundings are a blur. I sense the friction across my back as we speed through the first doorway, barely making it through the small opening.
I focus on my breathing, fighting my nerves as we rush along corridors and around corners, using every muscle in my core not to be thrown off as the beam jolts sharply from side to side.
