Chapter 24 · The city?

"Try me."

"The seal isn't just holding the vows. It's holding the thing that wrote them."

"The city?"

"No. Something older. Something that learned how to wear promises like skin."

"And you thought bringing me here was smart?"

"I thought you were the only person who could touch the seal without letting it take your name."

"You knew that before we came."

"I suspected."

"You used me."

"Yes."

The blunt answer stopped me.

Dax stepped closer, swaying but refusing to show it. "I used you because the bureau will kill you the moment they find out what you can do. I used you because your sister left a trail only you could read. I used you because I had one chance to get below the city before the oath inside me finished eating through my heart."

"And if I die?"

His mouth tightened.

"Then I die with you."

"You sound almost sorry."

"Don't get sentimental. It doesn't suit you."

"Neither does lying."

"I never promised to be honest."

"You promised me one thing."

His eyes narrowed. "What?"

"That you wouldn't let the city take me.