Chapter 17 · The Heir Source

The torn contract's still in my hand when the blood words start moving.

I mean actually moving. Crawling up from under the ripped edge like they're alive, dark red and wet, spelling out three words that make my stomach drop.

ELI'S HEIR SOURCE.

"What the hell does that mean?" I look up at Karl. He's staring at the paper like it just bit him. "Karl. What does heir source mean?"

He doesn't answer. Just stands there with that blank expression he gets when he's deciding how much to lie.

"Don't even think about it," I say. "I just tore up the one thing that could've saved me. You owe me the truth."

His jaw tightens. For a second I think he's going to walk out, but then he moves to the window and pulls the curtain back half an inch. Checking the street. Always checking.

"It means you're tied to the Ashe bloodline," he says finally. "Not just to me. To the family."

I wait. He doesn't keep going.

"That's not an explanation," I say. "That's a sentence fragment."

He lets the curtain drop. Turns around.