Chapter 12 · Ash Ledger - Chapter 12: Under the War Core

"You're not going down there."

Rowan turned. Mara stood in the doorway, one hand braced on the frame, the other on the knife at her hip. Blood streaked her sleeve from the skirmish topside. Her breathing was still fast.

"Ilan's already moving," Rowan said. "If I don't get to the core first, he will."

"Then let him." Mara stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind her. "You don't even know what that thing does."

"I know it turned my ledger live. I know it marked you and the crew. I know Ilan wants it bad enough to kill for it."

"So do you."

Rowan froze. The ledger was hot against his ribs, humming with a low frequency he could feel in his teeth. He looked at Mara. Her eyes were sharp, daring him to lie.

"I'm not killing anyone," he said.

"Not yet."

She crossed the room, boots loud on stone. The stairwell gaped open behind him, black and cold. The vault was down there. The war core. Whatever Ilan had been digging for before Rowan found it first.

"Bram says the core takes blood," Mara said. "Old pact. Old price.