Chapter 6 · Mom Left a Match

"Your brother's already a target."

Kael says it flat, like he's reading a weather report. I'm still standing by the window, my burned wrist throbbing under the bandage he wrapped twenty minutes ago. The mark underneath pulses every few seconds, hot and angry.

"Don't," I say.

"Don't what?"

"Don't use Milo to keep me here."

He's leaning against the kitchen island, arms crossed, shirt sleeves rolled up. The death mark on his neck is fainter now, a smudge of charcoal instead of spreading ink. Mine's doing the opposite. Getting darker. Getting worse.

"I'm not using him," Kael says. "I'm telling you what's already happening. Selene Crowe posted a bounty on you two hours ago. Five hundred thousand for you alive. Half that for your brother, any condition."

My stomach drops.

"You're lying."

"Check your phone."

I don't want to. I pull it out anyway. Three missed calls from Milo. One text: *where are you*

Another text, ten minutes later: *someone's outside*

Nothing after that.

"Call him," Kael says.

I already am. It rings. And rings. Then Milo's voice, breathless.

"Nora?"

"Where are you?"

"Home. I locked the door. There's a guy in a black sedan across the street.