"Open the gate, Elena Stone, or the capital will charge you with treason." Julian's voice blasted through the fortress speakers. "Your blood contract with Gabriel Vance doesn't outrank a magistrate's warrant."
My hand stayed over Gabriel's gun.
His fingers closed around my wrist. Heat ran from his palm to the red mark circling both our skin. The blood seal pulsed once, hard enough to hurt.
"Move," he said.
"No."
His eyes dropped to my mouth, then snapped back up. "Julian brought soldiers."
"I noticed."
"He brought a legal order."
"He brought a convoy into my firing zone." I tightened my grip on his gun. "That's not the same thing."
Behind us, the inner gate groaned shut. My new control over the fortress moved through me like a second pulse. Doors locked. Chains dropped. The eastern cannons turned three degrees and aimed at the armored vehicles below.
Gabriel felt it too. His jaw went tight.
"You trapped them," he said.
"I protected us. Don't make that sound like a favor."
Outside, Julian laughed through the speakers.
"Elena, listen to me. Gabriel has lied to you from the start. He opened the North Mine to my men. Your mother's last signal came from that shaft. If you want the truth, come out alone."
Gabriel's grip sharpened.
"Don't listen to him."
"You didn't say he was lying."
"Because I don't answer to that bastard."
"You answer to me now."
The words came out before I could stop them.
For one second, neither of us moved.
Gabriel stood close enough that the front of his coat brushed my knuckles. His blood still marked the collar of his shirt. Mine was drying across his palm. Every time he breathed, the seal tugged at my wrist.
His voice dropped. "Careful, Elena."
"Why? You scared I'll start acting like I own something here?"
"You own nothing."
"Funny. The fortress listens when I speak. Your men watched me turn the cannons. And your precious collar unlocked when our blood touched." I leaned closer. "Maybe your house disagrees."
His stare went black and hot.
Then a shot cracked from the outer wall.
Stone burst beside my head.
Gabriel shoved me behind him and raised his gun.
"I said stay behind me."
"And I said stop giving me orders."
"This isn't a game."
"Neither is Julian's warrant."
A second shot struck the iron doors. The sound punched through my ribs.
I grabbed Gabriel's sleeve before he could fire toward the convoy. The blood seal flared. His arm jerked back like I had hooked a chain through his bones.
His eyes cut to me.
"You can't stop me forever."
"I don't need forever. I need ten seconds."
I turned toward the control panel built into the wall. It had belonged to Gabriel yesterday. Now the lock recognized both our blood. The metal cover lifted under my touch.
A row of switches glowed red.
Gabriel stepped in behind me. His chest nearly touched my back.
"What are you doing?"
"Closing the gate again."
"It's already sealed."
"The front gate. The service gate is still open."
His breath warmed the side of my neck. "You read the map?"
"I live here now, remember?"
"I never said that."
"You chained me here. The house made the decision for you."
His hand came down beside mine. Big. Scarred. Close enough that his knuckles brushed my fingers.
"Don't confuse control with freedom."
I hit the service-gate switch.
Far below, steel slammed into steel.
The convoy engines roared. Men shouted. One armored truck tried to reverse, but the fire-control doors dropped behind it. The vehicle was trapped between two walls and three loaded cannons.
Julian's voice died for half a second.
Then he snarled, "You don't understand what you've done."
I pressed the speaker button.
"I understand that you drove into a fortress without permission."
"I'm here under capital authority."
"Then show me the warrant."
"Open the gate and I'll show you."
"No. Slide it under the door."
Gabriel looked at me like I had grown another set of teeth.
I kept my eyes on the speaker.
Julian scoffed. "You think Vance will let you walk away after this?"
"I think you still believe he's the only man in this fortress who can hurt me."
"Elena—"
"Try my name again and I'll let the eastern cannons introduce themselves."
The speakers went silent.
Gabriel's mouth pulled tight. "You enjoy this."
"I enjoy not being sold before dessert."
"You should have killed him when you had the chance."
"You mean when you shoved a gun into my hand and expected me to shoot your guest?"
"He isn't a guest."
"He used to be my fiancé."
The words landed between us.
Gabriel looked down at the blood seal binding our wrists.
"He used to be a lot of things."
"Jealous?"
His gaze lifted slowly.
"Don't push me."
"You're the one standing close enough to feel my pulse."
His fingers flexed against the panel. The seal pulled between us, dragging my wrist nearer to his. Our skin touched. His thumb slid across the inside of my arm, just once.
It wasn't gentle.
It wasn't careless either.
My breath caught. I hated that he noticed.
"There," he murmured. "You still react."
"To being trapped beside a violent man? Sure."
"Liar."
"Warlord."
A heavy pounding shook the service door.
"Elena!" Julian shouted. "By order of Magistrate Halden, I am taking you into protective custody. Gabriel Vance is under arrest for obstruction, smuggling, and unlawful confinement. If you resist, this fortress will be declared hostile territory."
Gabriel reached for the controls.
I caught his hand.
"Don't."
"He just declared war."
"No. He declared paperwork. I can beat paperwork."
"You have no idea what he's carrying."
"Then let him bring it inside."
Gabriel's face hardened. "Absolutely not."
"You don't get a vote."
"This is my fortress."
"And I'm bound to its command system."
"You're bound to me."
His voice was too low. Too close.
The sentence struck harder than the gunshot.
I pulled my wrist free, but the blood seal yanked us back together. His fingers caught my waist before I hit the console.
My back met his chest.
The armor beneath his shirt pressed against me. Solid. Warm. His breath touched my hair.
"Let go," I said.
He didn't.
"Gabriel."
"You were about to fall."
"I was about to make a point."
"Make it while standing."
His hand stayed at my waist one second too long.
Then he released me.
I turned before he could step away. We were almost touching, my palm flat against his chest, his heartbeat hard under my hand.
"Open the inner door," I said.
"No."
"I didn't ask permission."
"Julian wants you alone."
"And you want me locked in here with you."
His eyes narrowed.
"You think I need a door to stop you?"
"I think you need everyone to believe you can."
The corner of his mouth moved, but there was no humor in it.
"You're learning fast."
"I'm learning because men keep trying to own me."
For a beat, his stare dropped to my lips again.
Then he hit the release.
The inner door opened halfway.
Julian stepped through first with two capital officers behind him. He wore a dark magistrate's coat over body armor, clean enough to show he hadn't fought his way inside. His blond hair was still perfect. His left hand held a sealed warrant.
His right hand held a black leather ledger.
My stomach clenched.
I knew that ledger.
It had sat in my father's study every night before the mines collapsed. Brown leather. Brass corners. A thin white scratch across the spine.
My father's handwriting filled the pages inside.
Julian saw me recognize it and smiled.
"You want your family records? Come with me."
Gabriel raised his gun.
The officers aimed at him.
I stepped between them.
"Lower your weapons. All of you."
Julian's smile faded. "You're in no position to command capital officers."
"I'm standing inside the fortress you just entered without permission. You're the one surrounded by loaded cannons. Think carefully."
One officer glanced toward Gabriel.
The other looked at the red seal on my wrist.
Julian noticed.
"So the rumors are true. He marked you."
"He didn't mark me."
"Then why are you wearing his blood?"
Gabriel's voice turned deadly. "Say one more word about her body."
"Why? She doesn't belong to you anymore?" Julian tilted his head. "That's what happens when a debt changes hands."
My palm cracked across his face.
The sound snapped through the entry hall.
Julian's head turned with the blow. A red print rose over his cheek.
Gabriel went still behind me.
"You sold me," I said. "Don't talk to me about belonging."
Julian touched his cheek. "You have no idea what I did to keep you alive."
"You handed me over."
"Your family owed Vance millions."
"The debt was forged."
His eyes shifted.
Just once.
Enough.
I lunged for the ledger.
Julian jerked it back, but Gabriel caught his wrist. The blood seal burned between our arms. Gabriel twisted Julian's hand until the ledger dropped.
I snatched it off the floor.
Julian shouted, "That document is evidence in a capital investigation!"
"Then you should've kept both hands on it."
I flipped it open.
Numbers. Transfer codes. Mine shipments. Names of officials who had signed off on debts my family never took.
My father's signature appeared on the final page.
It looked wrong.
The last stroke was too sharp. The ink was too black.
"This isn't his signature," I said.
Julian moved toward me.
Gabriel stepped in front of him.
"Take one more step."
Julian stopped. "She can't read the full ledger. It requires the Stone seal."
I ran my thumb across the brass corner.
A hidden slot clicked open.
A thin sheet slid out.
My mother's seal was stamped at the bottom.
Gabriel's face changed.
Not fear. Not surprise.
Recognition.
I saw it and turned on him.
"You knew this was here."
"Elena—"
"You knew."
Julian laughed under his breath. "Ask him about the mine. Ask him why the North Mine opened on the night your mother vanished."
Gabriel grabbed Julian by the throat and slammed him against the iron door.
The officers raised their weapons again.
I shoved the ledger against Gabriel's chest.
"Let him go."
His grip tightened.
"He came here to take you."
"And now he's under military detention."
"No."
"That's an order."
The seal on our wrists flared red.
Gabriel's eyes locked on mine.
He could refuse. He could kill Julian and bury the ledger with him.
But the fortress had heard my command.
The guns above shifted. Boots thundered on the stairs as Gabriel's soldiers moved into position.
Julian coughed against Gabriel's hand.
I stepped closer until the ledger pressed flat between us, its hard brass edge digging into Gabriel's chest.
His body went rigid beneath the leather.
"Put Julian in the lower cells," I said. "Take his officers' weapons. Nobody touches him until I say so."
Gabriel didn't look away from me.
"You're keeping him alive?"
"I'm keeping him useful."
"He'll lie."
"So will you."
That hit. I saw it in the small movement of his jaw.
I opened the ledger to the hidden page and held it against his chest.
The paper warmed under his blood seal. The ink began to bleed, drawing a second line beneath my mother's stamp.
Gabriel looked down.
I pressed harder.
"Tell me why you opened the mine for him—"