Chapter 20 · Don't Save Me

Lucas hit the stone floor and didn't get up.

Vivian dropped to her knees beside him. His shirt was soaked through, dark and wet, and when she pressed her hands against the wound Evan's blade had left, the blood just kept coming. Too much. Too fast.

"You idiot," she said. Her voice cracked. "Why would you do that?"

His eyes were open but unfocused. His lips moved, barely. "Ledger. Your name. It said—"

"I don't care about the ledger right now." She pressed harder. The blood pooled under her palms, warm and slick, and she could feel his heartbeat under her fingers. Faint. Slowing.

Evan stood three feet away, frozen. The blade was still in his hand, dripping. His face was blank, but his eyes—his eyes were wrong. Empty. Like someone had scooped out everything that made him Evan and left a shell.

"Evan, help me," Vivian said. She didn't know why she said it. He'd just tried to kill her. But he was her brother, and some stupid part of her still believed he was in there somewhere.

He didn't move.

Lucas coughed. Blood flecked his lips. "The oath," he said, quieter now. "Interfering with council business.