Chapter 28 · One Life Left

The tracker's already halfway melted by the time I get Leah back to the shop.

Ink's perched on the espresso machine when we stumble through the door. He takes one look at the silver slag dripping off my wrist and flaps down to the counter. "That's not good."

"No shit." I guide Leah to a chair. She's shaking. The reaper mark on her palm is still glowing faint red, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. Three days. That's all Cain gave us before the Council locks in her death and sends a collection team.

Leah pulls her hand back when I reach for it. "Don't."

"I need to see how deep it went."

"I said don't." Her voice cracks. "You've done enough."

Ink hops closer. "The tracker's toast. That means the Council knows."

"They knew the second she activated." I grab a bar towel and wrap it around the melted metal. It's still hot enough to burn. "Cain probably reported it before we even left the cemetery."

Leah's staring at her palm. The mark's fading now, sinking back under her skin, but we both know it's still there. Permanent. "He said you saved me. Two thousand times."

"Not exactly.