Chapter 30 · The Verdict That Speaks

"Don't read it." Dax's hand slammed over mine before I could lift the sealed verdict from the old core.

The impact drove my knuckles into the stone. Pain flashed up my arm. His fingers locked around my wrist, hot and shaking, while black lines crawled beneath the skin of his throat.

"You signed it," I said.

"Mara—"

"Your name is on the bottom. Your blood is on the seal. Move."

He leaned closer, blocking the core with his body. We were trapped between the sealed gate and the iron machine, with the darkness beyond the door pounding hard enough to shake dust from the ceiling.

His breath brushed my cheek. Bitter metal. Burned magic. Pain.

"If you open that verdict, the core gets a claim on you," he said. "Not your hands. Not your blood. Your voice."

I yanked against his grip. "You expect me to care what happens to my voice when you already signed my death sentence?"

His jaw tightened. "I signed a temporary judgment."

"You signed my execution."

"To stop theirs."

"Whose?"

He didn't answer.

That was answer enough.

I twisted hard, drove my elbow into his ribs, and tore my wrist free. Dax stumbled one step.