Chapter 31 · The Name on the Trigger

The blade in Kael's hand was older than the capital itself, and it wanted blood.

Not his. Not yet. The ritual chamber under the palace had been built for one purpose: severing pacts that shouldn't be broken. The kind of bonds that held cities upright and kept enemy armies outside the gates. The floor was slate, cold enough that Kael could feel it through his boots, and every surface was carved with script he'd learned to read as a child. Cut here. Bleed there. Choose.

Rin stood six feet away, arms crossed, her jaw set in that way that meant she was holding her breathing steady on purpose. She'd followed him down here the moment she'd heard. Of course she had. The guard at the entrance had tried to stop her, and Kael had waved him off because arguing with Rin Shen in a hallway accomplished nothing except noise.

She looked at the blade. Then at him. "You can't do this."

"I don't have a choice." His voice came out flat, and he hated how it sounded.