CRACK
The portrait slammed shut behind Maddox so hard the impact threw him forward.
He rolled. Stopped. Stayed down.
All of them were on the ground. Sterling was flat on his side with Guinevere still locked under one arm. Kael was on his back, chest heaving. Lux was on her knees, blood sheeting from both nostrils into the stone. Jaxon was sitting against the corridor wall, arms shaking so badly his hands were blurring.
For two full seconds, the only sound was breathing.
Then the banging started.
The wall shuddered. Once. Twice. The third impact cracked the stone, where the portrait was on the other side.
Then it spoke.
"Sterling." The voice was soft. Female. "Open the door. Please. I'm scared."
"Oh, that's low," Kael commented. "Even for a shadow cunt."
Sterling's jaw locked. The bracelet on his wrist was still vibrating.
"That is a dead woman's voice," he said to the corridor. But it was more for himself.
The banging stopped.
