Chapter 30 · Burn the Contract

"Put the lighter down, Cole."

Eve's hand closed around my wrist before the flame could touch the card. Her fingers were cold. Her palm wasn't.

The contract lay between us on the iron table, black ink crawling across its surface. One line sat at the top in red:

EVE VANE — PROPERTY OF THE MIDNIGHT COUNCIL.

My thumb pressed the lighter wheel again. It sparked. The flame jumped, small and bright, three inches from the card.

Eve shoved my hand into the table.

"You want to keep your fingers? Stop."

"You want to stay alive? Let go."

Her eyes narrowed. "You burn that card, the contract takes the damage through me."

"Good. Then it knows where to go."

The lie came out sharp. It didn't survive the way her breath caught.

I had seen what the contract did to her. The black lines under her skin. The way her knees buckled whenever Silas pulled the chain. I had watched her smile through it, then bite down hard enough to draw blood.

She leaned closer, her sleeve brushing mine. "You don't know what you're holding."

"I know it owns you."

"No. It owns the promise. I pay the price.