Chapter 13 · Switch Thirteen

"Say that again." I yank my wrist out of Vale's hand, and he lets it go this time, which almost scares me more than if he'd held on.

"You heard me." He's staring at the panel like it bit him first. "There's a switch thirteen. Wasn't on the schematic Priya sent me. Wasn't on the one I memorized ten years ago either."

"Great. A secret door in a room with no doors." I press my palm flat against the cold steel wall, because if I don't touch something solid I'm going to start screaming. "Does it open the vault or does it just tell us we're screwed in a brand-new way?"

"Don't know yet."

The light under the glass isn't red like twelve. It's amber, pulsing slow, like something breathing on the other side of the metal. Vale reaches for it and a mechanical voice cuts him off before his finger lands.

"BOND VERIFICATION REQUIRED. PRESENT REGISTERED CLAIM MARK."

We both go still.

"Registered," I say, very carefully, like the word might explode if I drop it wrong. "As in filed. As in stamped. As in a piece of paper somewhere with a signature on it.