Chapter 33 · Zero Out the Debt

"That's Milo screaming."

Kael's hand locked around my wrist before I could bolt. "It's a recording."

"Let go."

"Nora—"

I twisted hard, broke his grip, and ran.

The scream came again, raw and wet, bouncing off the marble walls. I couldn't tell which direction. The monitor room, maybe. Or the vault level. Somewhere down.

Kael caught me at the stairwell door. He slammed his palm against it before I could shove through. "Stop."

"He's dying."

"He's bait." Kael's voice was flat, controlled. Too controlled. "Selene wants you running blind. The second you go down there alone, she has both of you."

I looked at the mark on my wrist. Milo's name, burned black into the skin where mine used to be. The letters pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.

"Then we go together," I said.

Kael didn't move. His eyes tracked the ceiling corners, counting cameras. "She's watching. She knows you took the mark. She knows it rewrote. And she's waiting for us to walk into whatever room she's got wired."

"So what, we just stand here?"

"We flip it."

I stared at him. "Flip what?"

"The debt." Kael pulled his phone, swiped twice, and held it up. Security feed.