Chapter 8 · Cages at Midnight

"He's lying." I shove past Kael before the guard's body stops twitching. "Milo doesn't go to auction houses."

"He does when someone drags him." Kael catches my elbow, spins me back. His grip's hot enough I feel it through my jacket. "And you walk in there blind, they'll have two Vales."

"So what's your plan? Stand here and—"

"Put this on." He pulls a thin black cuff from his coat pocket. It looks like leather until it catches the light wrong. "Marks you as mine. Nobody touches my property without paying me first."

I knock his hand away. "I'm not wearing your collar."

"Then you're not walking into the Midnight Market." He steps closer. I'm against the alley wall before I register moving. "That guard didn't give up Milo for free. Someone wanted you to hear it. Selene wanted you to hear it."

"Good." I meet his eyes. They've gone darker, that gold edge creeping in. "Then she can watch me put a bullet in her."

"Not if you're in a cage first." His voice drops. "The Market doesn't run on guns, Nora. It runs on contracts. You want your brother back, you play the game.