Chapter 18 · The Auditor's Debt

The door slams shut.

The bone cracks on the floor stop glowing. The pull vanishes. I'm on my knees, hands flat on cold tile, breathing like I just ran five miles. Leah's slumped against the counter, eyes locked on the spot where the door was.

"What the hell was that?" Her voice comes out rough. "Who was that?"

I don't answer. Can't. My mother's voice is still echoing in my head. *Come home, Ash.* The Council doesn't do sentiment. They don't keep the dead around for nostalgia. If they've got her voice, her memory—

I shove the thought down. Stand up. My legs shake but I lock my knees.

"Aiden." Leah pushes off the counter. Her tracker's dark but the skin around it looks burned. "Who called you Ash?"

"No one." I head for the espresso machine. My hands need something to do or I'm going to put my fist through a wall. "You should go."

"Are you kidding me?" She's right behind me now. "The Council just tried to drag us both through a bone door and you think I'm leaving?"

I pull a shot. The grind, the tamp, the hiss of steam—routine. Safe. "They weren't after you.