Chapter 14 · Borrowed Time Table

"Don't touch the card." Eve's fingers locked around Cole's wrist before he could reach the deck.

Her grip was warm. Too warm. The brand under his skin burned hard enough to make his knees dip.

"Then tell me what it does," Cole snapped. "Because my sister's debt just doubled, your contract is eating my life, and that thing is the only reason I'm still standing."

"You don't get to grab cursed cards because you're having a bad night."

"Bad night?" He twisted against her hold. "My sister's soul is collateral. How would you rate that? Mild inconvenience?"

Eve stepped closer instead of letting go. Her coat brushed his knuckles. Her breath touched the side of his face, cool and sharp with mint.

"I rate it a reason to keep you alive for another five minutes," she said. "After that, you're on your own."

The black mark around his wrist pulsed.

A thin line of red light crawled across it, counting down.

04:17.

Cole looked at the number. "You said the brand bought me an hour."

"It bought you an hour if you followed instructions."

"Your instructions were 'don't bleed on the table.'"

"And yet you managed to make that complicated."