Chapter 36 · The Vow That Bites Back

"Stop writing. Mara, stop!" Dax slammed his hand over hers before the black ink could finish the next word.

The ledger bucked under their palms.

Mara's fingers kept moving anyway. Her wrist jerked against his grip, dragging a crooked line across the page. The half-formed vow smoked beneath her hand.

"I’m trying!" she snapped. "It’s not listening!"

"Then break the page."

"I can’t move my hand!"

Dax swore and twisted her wrist away from the ledger. The silver ring around his pupil flashed hard enough to hurt her eyes. His grip was too strong. A minute ago, he could barely stand. Now his fingers locked around her like iron.

That was the vow feeding him.

Every promise he pulled from the ledger burned through his body, giving him strength for one short minute. Then the black lines under his skin spread farther across his throat.

Mara shoved her shoulder into his chest. "Let go of me!"

"If I let go, you finish the sentence."

"If you don’t, the ledger finishes it for me."

His jaw tightened. He looked down at the words forming under her palm.

MARA VENN MUST—

The rest crawled forward in wet black strokes.

MUST PRESENT HERSELF—