Chapter 34 · Where the Blood Bond Ends

The blade didn't move.

Eli held it there, right over Karl's heart, and I could see the calculation in his eyes. He was deciding if killing his brother on a live feed would cost him more than letting him talk.

I didn't give him time to pick.

"You already lost," I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Everyone just heard me. Everyone knows what you did."

Eli's head snapped toward me. The blade stayed put.

"You think saying names on a broken feed changes anything?" His smile was all teeth. "Half those devices are compromised. The council will bury your little performance before sunrise."

Karl coughed. Blood on his lips. "They can't bury what's already out."

"They've done it before." Eli leaned in, and the blade pressed deeper. "You were always too sentimental for this, Caleb. That's why you never deserved the mark."

The crown mark. The one that proved you were family head.

I'd seen it before, just once, in one of Karl's memories when he fed. A circle of symbols that burned gold on the back of the right hand. Eli wore it now.