Mid-Month Massacre

The chapter is sealed

Kael surfaces from the showcase pool, gasping, as the 8:14 explosion rises from beneath the platform—not the stage, the foundation. He turns to Dorian, blood and ink mixing: "How many times for you?" His brother won't answer, only grips the disc taken from Miren, its cracked surface leaking faint light. Next dawn, Kael finds another ledger hidden in the wardrobe lining—"Harbor Soul Market · Opens Day Seven · Requires blood-key from the dying."