Chapter 27 · Don't Trust Tower Law

Mira's hand stays on the file. She doesn't open it.

Kade watches her face. The light from the screen behind her cuts her jaw in shadow. She's thinking too hard. That's the problem with guards who follow rules—they need time to break them.

"Read it," he says.

She looks at him instead. "You know what happens if I do."

"Yeah. You find out Drake's been feeding people to the tower for two years. You find out the ward didn't collapse because someone got sloppy. It collapsed because someone wanted it to."

Her jaw tightens. "That's a big claim."

"It's in the file."

"Then why give it to me? Why not take it to the council yourself?"

Kade almost laughs. "You think they'd let me in the door? I'm wanted. You're not."

She finally opens the folder. Her eyes move fast. Too fast. She's not reading. She's scanning for the thing that'll let her throw it back at him and walk away clean.

She stops halfway down the first page.

Kade knows what she's seeing. The signature at the bottom. The date. The ward log that doesn't match the official report.

"This is tower seal," she says quietly.

"Yeah.