Chapter 3

"You don't give orders in my hall," he said.

"Your hall is being breached. Your brother is dying. And you're wasting time threatening the only person who can keep either of you alive."

Behind me, Varan made a rough sound.

Not a growl. Not quite a scream.

The crack in his core had opened again.

I felt it through the blood contract wrapped around my wrist. The bone mark burned under my skin, bright and cruel. Varan's pain traveled down the bond in sharp bursts, each one punching through my ribs.

Kaiser heard his brother choke and glanced over his shoulder.

That was enough.

I drove my elbow into his stomach.

His grip loosened. I twisted away, caught his wrist, and slammed his knife hand against the table. The blade jumped from his fingers and clattered across the stone.

"Touch my throat again," I snapped, "and I will lock your lungs next."

Kaiser leaned close, his breath hot against my cheek despite the cold pouring through the broken doors.

"You think the contract lets you threaten me?"

"No. I know it does."

His eyes dropped to our joined wrists.

Three black-red lines circled my skin. One ran toward Varan. One ran toward Kaiser. The third line curled back into my palm like a hooked finger.

The blood contract was alive.

And it was tightening.

Outside the shattered doors, boots hammered across the entry hall.

"Surrender Sula Morton!" a soldier shouted. "By order of Aileen Morton, all Gault property is to be returned alive. Resist, and the twin commanders die first!"

A laugh slipped out of me.

It came out thin, but it still made every guard in the hall turn.

"Gault property?" I called toward the doors. "That's rich. Your mistress scraped my marrow out of my bones and dumped me in a frozen trench. Now she wants to pretend I belong to her?"

The nearest guard raised his axe.

"Sula, get behind me," Varan ordered.

He was on one knee beside the contract table. His shirt hung open at the chest. Dark veins crawled beneath his skin, spreading from the old wound over his heart.

I could see the fracture.

It ran across the pale core embedded beneath his breastbone, a jagged line glowing red through flesh and blood.

The second charge had held it together for less than an hour.

"Behind you?" I said. "You can barely stand."

Varan shoved himself upright.

His hand hit the table. The stone cracked beneath his palm.

"I said get behind me."

"And I said no."

His eyes found mine.

The hall shook when something heavy struck the outer gates. Dust dropped from the ceiling. A guard stumbled, caught himself, and stared at the doors.

Kaiser picked up his knife.

"They brought a ram," he said. "We have maybe three minutes."

"Two," I said.

"You counted?"

"I can hear the chain crew."

Kaiser studied me. His face had gone pale beneath the sharp lines of his cheekbones. The bone seal at his throat pulsed once, twice. My marriage mark had locked his poisoned veins, but the poison was fighting back.

He hid the pain better than Varan.

That didn't make him safer.

"You knew they were coming," he said.

"I knew Aileen wouldn't let me leave her reach."

"You knew they would attack tonight."

"I knew you had enemies. Congratulations. You finally noticed."

His knife lifted again.

Varan crossed the space between us in three uneven steps and caught Kaiser's wrist before the blade reached me. The brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, one bleeding from the mouth, the other shaking with poison.

"Put it down," Varan said.

Kaiser didn't look at him.

"She has been lying since she entered this fortress."

"So have you," I said.

Kaiser's gaze snapped to mine.

"Careful."

"You added a restriction to our contract without telling me. You tried to cage me with my own blood. Don't act offended because I noticed."

Varan's head turned sharply.

"What restriction?"

Kaiser smiled without warmth.

"The one that keeps our new bride from wandering into enemy territory."

"You mean the one that lets you stop me from leaving the fortress?"

"Same thing."

"No, it isn't."

I stepped between them before either twin could decide which argument deserved blood.

The movement pulled my wrist tight. Pain flashed up my arm. The contract reacted to my anger, the lines beneath my skin turning hot enough to sting.

"You want me alive?" I asked.

"That was the arrangement," Kaiser said.

"No. The arrangement was protection. Freedom. Access to your military records. And every Morton prisoner held in this fortress."

"You want the prisoner list while an army is breaking down our door?"

"I want it because your soldiers are about to kill people who may know what my family did to me."

Varan's jaw hardened.

"You think the Mortons are hiding something else?"

"I know they are."

The next impact hit the gates.

This time, the hinges screamed.

A guard shouted, "Commander, we need orders!"

Varan turned toward him.

"Seal the west passage. Pull the archers to the inner stairs. No one enters this hall unless I allow it."

The guard hesitated.

Varan's voice dropped.

"Move."

The man ran.

I looked at Varan's chest. The crack had widened. A dark line split the glowing core from top to bottom.

"Your orders won't matter if that breaks."

"Then fix it."

"The third marrow charge will cost more."

"How much?"

"I don't know."

"You always know."

"I knew what the first two would take. This one is different."

Kaiser caught my arm.

His fingers were cold. Too cold. The poison had reached his hand.

"Different how?"

I pulled against him.

"Let go."

"Answer me."

"My marrow is already damaged. A third charge may start breaking the bones that make it."

Varan went still.

"Your bones?"

"Don't look so shocked. You knew this craft had a price."

"You never said it could kill you."

"You never asked. You were busy deciding where to chain me."

The muscles in his forearm jumped.

"I am not chaining you."

"You put a mark on my wrist that tightens when you give an order."

"That was before the contract."

"And now?"

He stepped closer.

His body heat reached me before his hand did. The air between us narrowed. Blood and iron clung to his skin. His fingers stopped just short of my waist, as if the contract itself had warned him not to touch me without permission.

That restraint scared me more than his anger.

"Now," he said, "you are mine to protect."

"I'm not yours."

"You signed the bond."

"I signed terms. I didn't surrender my name."

Kaiser gave a short laugh.

"She made that very clear. Her first demand was the right to keep secrets from us."

"Your first demand was the right to control me."

"And you countered by binding our lives to yours."

"You're welcome."

The gate shook again.

A crack split the iron near the center. Through it, I saw the white-and-red banner of the Morton execution army.

Aileen had sent the household guard.

Not soldiers for a rescue.

Executioners.

The man outside lifted a horn to his mouth.

"Last warning! Give us Sula Morton, and the Gault brothers will be granted a clean death!"

I walked toward the broken doors.

Varan grabbed my hand.

The contact hit like a spark under my skin. His palm was hot. His thumb pressed against the contract mark, and the bond answered with a hard pulse.

"Where are you going?"

"To answer them."

"You are not stepping outside."

"Then stop holding me like a leash."

His eyes dropped to our joined hands.

He released me.

Not because he wanted to.

Because the blood contract punished him for trying to command me.

A red line opened across his palm.

Kaiser watched it happen.

"Interesting," he murmured.

"Say one more word and I'll make your poison move faster."

"You can't. You sealed it."

"I can unseal it."

His mouth curved.

"You won't."

"Try me."

For half a second, no one moved.

Then Varan doubled over.

A crack split through the hall.

Not stone.

Bone.

The sound came from inside his chest.

He hit the floor on one hand. Blood spilled between his fingers.

"Varan!"

I dropped beside him.

The core beneath his ribs had opened wide. The second charge had peeled away from the fracture instead of holding it. The living marrow inside him churned, black at the edges.

His teeth clenched.

"Don't touch me," he forced out.

"You don't get to die while I'm standing here."

"Sula, wait—" Kaiser started.

I shoved my fingers against Varan's chest.

Heat tore through my hand.

His body jerked under me. The contract mark around my wrist flared, and my own bones answered with a sharp, deep ache.

Kaiser seized my shoulder.

"Stop. The third charge will tear you apart."

"Then hold me together."

"That isn't how marrow craft works."

"You read my contract, didn't you? You know the clauses. You know the price. So stop talking and help me."

He stared at me.

"What do you need?"

"Your blood."

"How much?"

"Enough to wake the bond."

Kaiser sliced his palm with his own knife.

Varan lifted his head.

"Don't use him."

"You want me to use you instead?"

His breathing scraped.

"Take mine."

"I need both cores."

"Sula—"

"You signed the contract too. Don't start acting precious now."

I grabbed Kaiser's bleeding hand and pressed it over Varan's heart.

The twins' blood met beneath my fingers.

The contract screamed.

Every candle in the hall went out.

The guards shouted. Steel scraped from scabbards. Outside, the execution army roared and slammed the ram into the gate again.

I heard none of it clearly.

All I heard was the wet grind inside Varan's chest and Kaiser's sharp breath against my ear.

"Your hands are shaking," Kaiser said.

"Then hold them still."

His arm wrapped around my waist.

He pulled me back against his chest, locking my body against him so my hand wouldn't slide from Varan's wound. His breath brushed my temple. His mouth was close enough that every word warmed my skin.

"If I hold tighter, I may break you."

"Try not to."

"You trust me that much?"

"No. I trust the contract to punish you."

His fingers tightened anyway.

The pressure kept me upright. It also put his body flush against mine, hard muscle behind my back, his heartbeat racing against my shoulder blade.

Varan caught my wrist.

His grip was hot enough to burn.

"Look at me," he said.

I did.

His pupils had swallowed most of his eyes.

"If this goes wrong, cut the bond."

"You know I can't."

"You can. Every contract has a break clause."

Kaiser went rigid behind me.

I felt it.

"What break clause?" I asked.

Varan's eyes shifted toward his brother.

Kaiser spoke first.

"There is no break clause."

"You just said there was."

"He is in pain."

"Varan."

His hand tightened around mine.

"Don't listen to him."

"That's not an answer."

The core in his chest cracked again.

He cried out.

The sound ripped through me. My fingers drove deeper into his wound, past blood and heat, until I reached the broken core.

It was not stone.

It felt like a living tooth, sharp on every side, trying to bite through my palm.

I forced my marrow into it.

Pain exploded through my arm.

I screamed.

Kaiser pressed his mouth near my ear.

"Stay with me."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Then listen to me anyway. Breathe."

"I am breathing."

"No, you're choking."

His hand slid from my waist to my ribs. He pressed there, forcing air into my lungs while I pushed the marrow charge into Varan's broken core.

Varan's free hand caught the back of my neck.

His thumb brushed the pulse under my jaw.

"Sula. Stop now."

"Not yet."

"You're bleeding."

"So are you."

"I can survive this."

"You couldn't survive the second charge."

His expression twisted.

"You don't know what I can survive."

"I know exactly what you can survive. I can feel you cracking."

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Both twins went quiet.

Kaiser lowered his voice.

"You can feel our cores?"

I pushed harder.

The living bone fought me. It cut through my marrow and dragged something out with it. My wrist bones throbbed. My elbows shook. A sharp pain began crawling up my spine.

"I can feel enough," I said.

"How?" Kaiser asked.

"Ask me after I save your life."

"That's not an answer."

"Then keep wondering."

Varan's grip on my neck tightened.

Not enough to hurt.

Enough to remind me he could.

"You knew how to find the fracture," he said. "You knew how to seal it. You knew the contract would respond to your blood. Who taught you?"

"No one."

"Liar."

His breath hit my face. Hot. Ragged. Too close.

"You want the truth?" I whispered. "I learned from the people who broke me."

His eyes changed.

The question died before it reached his mouth.

Kaiser wasn't as merciful.

"The Mortons?"

I shoved another pulse of marrow into Varan's core.

"Say their name again and I'll let your poison loose."

"You hate them."

"Yes."

"You want their prisoners."

"Yes."

"You want their records."

"Yes."

"Why?"

The question hit harder than the pain.

The gate burst inward.

Iron slammed into the stone floor. Morton soldiers flooded the outer hall, shields up, weapons drawn. Their captain pointed straight at me.

"Sula Morton! Step away from Commander Gault and submit!"

Varan tried to rise.

I shoved him back with my shoulder.

"Stay down."

His hand clamped around my waist.

"You don't command me."

"Then consider it medical advice."

Kaiser drew his second blade and held it across my front, its edge aimed at the captain.

"One step closer," he called, "and I start removing fingers."

The captain laughed.

"Your poison has already reached your heart, Kaiser Gault. Your brother can barely breathe. Hand over the girl."

"She is our wife," Kaiser said.

The word hit the room harder than the gate had.

Our wife.

Varan's fingers flexed against my waist.

I felt his mouth near my hair.

"Say it," he murmured. "Tell them whose side you're on."

The captain's gaze dropped to our linked wrists.

"That bond is invalid. She is Morton blood."

"I know exactly what I am," I said.

I pulled my hand from Varan's chest.

The marrow charge had not finished settling. A thin strand of living bone stretched between my fingers and the crack in his core.

If I broke contact, he could die.

If I kept going, my own bones might split next.

Kaiser looked down at the strand.

"Sula, don't."

"You want a wife?"

Varan stared at me.

"Not like this."

"You want my protection?"

Kaiser said nothing.

I cut my palm with Kaiser's knife.

Blood spilled over the contract table.

The old symbols lit beneath it, waiting for a name.

The twins both moved.

Varan caught my wrist.

Kaiser caught the knife.

Their hands closed over mine at the same time, heat and cold trapping me between them.

"What are you doing?" Kaiser demanded.

"Finishing the contract."

"The marriage already took effect," Varan said.

"The protection didn't."

"It did."

"Not enough."

I looked at the soldiers in the doorway, then at the red Morton banner hanging behind them.

"If I write my name into this bond, your army can't hand me over. If either of you betrays me, the contract takes your power. If you lock me up, it tears through your cores."

Kaiser stared at the blood running down my wrist.

"You planned this."

"I planned to survive. There's a difference."

"And if the contract takes your power too?"

"Then I'll take yours first."

Varan's thumb pressed over my pulse.

His voice dropped.

"You don't know what you're binding yourself to."

"Neither do you."

I dragged my bleeding hand across the center of the contract.

The symbols split open.

A place appeared for my name.

Not Sula Morton.

Just Sula.

I carved the letters with my blood.

The first stroke burned through my palm.

The second sent pain into my shoulder.

By the time I finished the last letter, my knees buckled.

Varan caught me against his chest.

Kaiser took my face in his hand and forced me to look at him.

"Stay awake."

"Stop giving orders."

"Then stay awake because I said please."

The word sounded wrong in his mouth. Too soft. Too honest.

I almost laughed.

"You don't know how to say please."

"I'm learning."

The contract flared.

A ring of red light snapped around all three wrists.

The bond sank into my skin.

The hall went silent.

Every soldier saw it happen.

The marriage was no longer a promise waiting for witnesses.

It was law.

It was blood.

It was locked.

The captain lifted his sword.

"Kill them all."

Varan stood.

He should not have been able to.

His arms shook, but he dragged me behind him. Kaiser stepped to his other side, one hand still wrapped around my wrist.

"You heard him," Varan said. "They just declared war on our wife."

Kaiser smiled at the soldiers.

"That was a stupid thing to do."

The first arrow flew.

Varan knocked it aside.

The movement tore open the crack in his chest.

I felt it before I saw it.

His core broke again.

Not a hairline fracture this time.

A full split.

Varan collapsed against me, all his weight crushing into my shoulder.

The marrow strand between us snapped tight.

Pain ripped through my bones.

My knees hit the stone.

"Sula!" Kaiser shouted.

I gripped Varan's shirt and pressed my bloody palm to his chest.

The third charge surged into the broken core.

This time, it did not stop at my hand.

The pain traveled into my wrist, then my arm, then deep into the bones of my ribs. I felt one of them crack beneath my skin.

A wet pop.

Another.

Kaiser dropped beside me and seized my shoulders.

"Stop the charge!"

"I can't."

"Cut the bond!"

"You said there was no break clause!"

His face changed.

Just for a second.

Enough.

"Kaiser," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady, "what did you hide in our contract?"

He looked at the blood spreading beneath my palm.

Then at Varan's splitting core.

Then back at me.

"Your name," he said. "I hid what your name would wake."

The marrow inside Varan tore through my hand.

My bones began to break from the inside as the contract whispered one last word into my ear—

"Sula, if you finish this charge, you won't be the one who—"