Chapter 43 · That's the vow archive

He dragged her toward the broken side of the chamber. The floor cracked under their boots. A narrow passage had opened beneath the core, its walls packed with thousands of little metal plates. Names were stamped into them. Most were dark. Some glowed a dull red.

Mara stopped. "That's the vow archive."

"The part they never showed you."

"I was a vow-fixer. I worked on the public ledgers."

"The public ledgers were theater."

"You knew that too?"

"I knew enough to hate this place."

"You still worked for them."

"I worked against the people who used the gates."

"You wore their seal."

"So did your sister."

Mara's hand went still.

Dax saw it. His expression changed, just slightly.

"Don't," she said.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were about to."

"Your sister left a route through this archive."

Mara grabbed the front of his shirt. "You said you had seen her controlled by the vow. You didn't say she left a route."

"I didn't know if it was still here."

"And you were going to wait until what? The mark killed me?"

"I was going to get you through the passage first."

"You don't get to protect me with half-truths anymore."