Chapter 5 · I muttered

The black ring burned.

Dax hissed behind me.

"Right," I muttered. "That rule."

The ladder ended at a stone ledge. I stepped off and found myself in an old service tunnel. The walls were packed with faded vow marks. Most had been scratched out. Some still glowed a dull red.

Dax landed beside me and immediately grabbed the wall.

"You're going to fall," I said.

"I know."

"You could say thank you."

"For what?"

"I saved your life twice in five minutes."

"You haven't saved it yet."

"Ungrateful bastard."

"Disgraced criminal."

"Arrogant badge with legs."

"Short-tempered fixer."

"I am not short."

His eyes traveled over me, slow enough to make my skin heat.

"Didn't say you were."

I pointed down the tunnel. "Move."

"You first."

"You like staring at my back that much?"

His mouth twitched again. "You really do make everything sound like a challenge."

"Maybe you need better challenges."

He stepped closer.

The tunnel left no room for distance. His shoulder brushed mine. His hand came up beside my head and pressed against the wall, blocking the passage without quite touching me.

"Careful," he said.

"You're the one cornering me."

"You're the one threatening me with a knife."

"You came armed."

"You threw first."

"You deserved it."

His eyes held mine. They were darker this close, almost black around the edges.

"You keep saying that too."

"Maybe you keep deserving it."

His breath slowed, but his pulse didn't.

The black vow throbbed under his skin. My wrist answered.

Dax glanced at the ring. "We need to cut the link before we go deeper."

"You said the vaults were our only chance."

"They are."

"And if we go down there linked?"

"We may not come back."

"You say that like we had plans for tomorrow."

"I had plans to arrest you."

"Romantic."

"You keep using that word."

"You keep standing too close."

For once, he had no answer.

A metallic click came from above.

Evelyn had found the tunnel entrance.

Dax pulled me against the wall, one hand over my mouth. His other hand raised the pistol.

I glared at him and bit his palm.

He jerked back.

"You bite?"

"You cover my mouth?"

"I was keeping you quiet."

"Ask next time."

"You'd say no."

"Exactly."

Footsteps scraped against the ladder.

Dax moved in front of me. I could see his back tense beneath the torn shirt. The black mark had climbed higher, almost to his throat.

"Dax," Evelyn called from the pit. "I know you're down there."

"Then stop yelling," he called back.

"Step away from Mara."

"Can't."

"Is she holding you under compulsion?"

"No."

"Then why is she still alive?"

My hand closed around the vow-knife hidden at my belt.

Dax looked over his shoulder. "Don't."

"She asked a question."

"She wants you angry."

"I am angry."

"I know."

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know you reach for a blade when you feel cornered."

"And you reach for a gun when you feel afraid."

His eyes flashed.

There. Another crack.

"I'm not afraid," he said.

"Your hand is shaking."

"The vow is shaking it."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Evelyn's voice came closer. "Dax, the order is clear. Mara Venn is to be taken alive if possible. If not, terminate the threat."

"Tell your commander to come say that himself."

"You know I can't."

"Then you know what happens next."

"I know you always choose the Bureau over yourself."

Dax went still.

I looked at him. "Is that true?"

"Not tonight."

"Why not tonight?"

"Because tonight the Bureau wants you dead."

"And you don't?"

His gaze dropped to the black ring between us.

"Not yet."

The answer should have made me furious.

Instead, the low edge in his voice caught somewhere under my ribs.

I stepped closer and pressed two fingers to the mark at his throat.

Dax's hand closed around my wrist immediately.

"Don't touch that."

"Why?"

"Because it moves when you do."

"The vow?"

"No. Me."

The words came out too honest.

His grip loosened.

I felt his thumb brush the inside of my wrist, right over the black ring. Heat ran through my arm.

"You should be scared of me," I said.

"I am."

"You don't look scared."

"Neither do you."

"I'm terrified."

His eyes searched my face.

"You don't sound like it."

"I don't have time to sound like anything."

The ladder creaked.

Dax released me and shoved a rusted metal gate open at the end of the tunnel. Beyond it waited a narrow stairwell dropping into deeper dark.

"Go," he said.

"You first."

"Mara."

"Say please."

"Please."

I stared at him.

He gave me a flat look. "You wanted the word."

"I wanted you to mean it."

His jaw tightened. Then he stepped aside.

"Please go before she reaches us."

That sounded real.

I moved through the gate.

Dax followed, pulling it shut behind him. The metal bars clanged into place just as Evelyn dropped into the tunnel.

"Mara!" she shouted.

Dax leaned close to the gate and raised his pistol.

"One more step, Evelyn."

"You won't shoot me."

"Try me."

"Your vow is killing you."

"Then don't make me spend the last part of my life annoyed."

Evelyn stopped.

I turned toward the stairs. "We need to go."

Dax kept his gun trained through the bars. "Open the lower seal."

"I don't have the key."

"You don't need one."

"The seal was built by first-generation fixers. I can't open it."

"You can."

"You don't know what I can do."

"I watched you repair a murder oath with a sewing needle."

I looked back. "You were there?"

"Six days. Remember?"

"You watched me from where?"

"The roof across the street."

"Creepy."

"Effective."

"You saw me work and still thought I broke vows?"

"I thought you were hiding something."

"I am."

His gaze sharpened. "What?"

"If I tell you, you'll arrest me."

"If you don't tell me, the oath will."