Chapter 16 · The Blood Ledger

The ledgers.

Kael's whisper kept looping in Alto's head while he sat against the back wall of his cage. Blood from the gash on his ribs had soaked through the rag someone tossed him. He didn't move. Didn't wrap it tighter. He just stared through the bars at the narrow hall that led to Shana's office.

The real order wasn't at the governor's estate. It was here. In the pit.

And if Kael was right, Alto was about to break into the one place Shana watched closer than the fight floor.

He pushed off the wall. His ribs screamed. He ignored them.

Down the hall, Shana's door hung half-open. Lamplight spilled across the threshold. She was in there. She was always in there after a fight, tallying bets and updating her books. Alto had seen her do it a dozen times. She kept three ledgers on the desk. One for coin. One for fighters. One she never opened in front of anyone.

That was the one he needed.

Footsteps echoed from the main corridor. Alto tensed, but it was just Lira, medical bag slung over one shoulder, her hair still pinned back from earlier.