Chapter 29 · The Last Name

Cain's got the door locked and I can feel every ward in this place lighting up like Christmas. Not the good kind. The kind where the tree's on fire.

"You always did have terrible timing," I tell him.

He steps away from the door. Doesn't rush. Cain never rushes. That's how you know you're screwed.

"Timing?" He tilts his head. "I'd say I'm right on schedule. You just made Leah Vaughn the single most valuable piece on the board. The Council's going to want her. And they're going to want you gone."

Leah's still staring at the tracker on her wrist. The bars are all lit. Two thousand debts, compressed into one name. Mine.

"I can kill him," she says. Quiet. Like she's working through a math problem. "That's what this means, right? I hold the debt. I can collect."

"Technically, yes." Cain moves toward the counter. His coat doesn't even rustle. "But if you do, every debt he transferred collapses back into void status. The Council loses two thousand confirmed saves. They don't like losses."

Ink lands on my shoulder. His claws dig in a little too hard.