Chapter 13 · Her Father's Kill Order

Mira's hand was cold in his.

Kade didn't let go. The market crowd pressed around them, bodies and elbows and the smell of fried dough, but all he could see was the warrant screen behind them. Her face. Her father's signature.

She pulled him left, into a narrow gap between two food stalls. The canvas walls smelled like grease and old smoke.

"Your father signed it," Kade said.

Mira didn't look at him. "I know."

"He wants you alive."

"I know." Her voice was flat. She let go of his hand and checked the alley mouth. Two guards jogged past, batons out, scanning faces. She waited until they turned the corner. "We need to move."

Kade caught her wrist. "Mira."

She stopped. Her jaw was tight, her shoulders locked. She still wouldn't look at him.

"He's not coming for you to bring you home," Kade said. "He's coming because you're with me."

Finally, she turned. Her eyes were hard, but there was something underneath. Something raw. "You think I don't know that?"

"Then why are we still running?"

"Because I'm not done." She yanked her wrist free. "Your mother's in that tower. If we stop now, she stays there.