Chapter 28 · She's Not the Key

"You're not dying for this city."

Adrian's voice cut through the static hum filling the safe house. His hands were still shaking from the last seal he'd carved into the doorframe—three layers deep, brass dust coating his knuckles like dried blood.

Mara stood by the cracked window, the council's broadcast still looping on every screen across the street. Her face. Her name. The accusation that she was the breach source, the next disaster waiting to crack the city open.

"They've already decided," she said. Flat. Like she'd accepted it hours ago. "If I'm the key, then sealing me might actually—"

"Don't." He crossed the room fast enough that she stepped back, hit the wall. He didn't stop until his palm slammed beside her head, plaster crumbling under his knuckles. "Don't say it like it's a done deal."

She looked up at him. No fear. Just that cold auditor stare that used to make him want to throw her out of his shop. "What's your better plan? Let the dead zones keep spreading? Let more people disappear into—"

"I'll find another way."

"There isn't one." Her voice dropped. "You heard what Theo pulled from the black market files.