Chapter 13 · The Ledger's Writing Faster

"Nobody rings that one."

Sona already had her blade out, already had her back to mine, scanning the stairwell like she expected it to bleed.

The ninth bell rang and every torch in the tower guttered sideways like something had sucked the air out of the room.

"Nobody," she said again. "That's the sister bell. It's not wired to anything."

"It's wired to something now."

Ethlin came off the wall, both hands shaking around a lantern she wasn't holding right. Wax dripped onto her knuckles. She didn't seem to feel it.

"Wren rang it."

"Wren's twelve," Sona said.

"Wren's twelve and scared and she said someone told her to." Ethlin's voice cracked down the middle. "She said a voice came up through the rope. Told her which bell. Told her when."

I already knew where this went. I'd seen this exact hallway before — different loop, different order of dying. The ledger in my coat had gone hot against my ribs the second that bell rang. Hot enough I could feel it through two layers of wool.

I pulled it out.

Sona's eyes cut to it like a blade finding a throat.

"Don't."

"I have to.