Chapter 26 · Rust and Relic - Chapter 26: The Name Her Father Sold

"You're not going in there."

Liv's voice cut through the dark before I even got my boot on the first rung. The ladder went straight down into black water, and I could hear it rising—slow, steady, like something breathing.

"Someone has to," I said.

"Then I will."

"You can't swim."

She grabbed my wrist. Her fingers were cold, still shaking from the fire we'd just escaped. "I can't lose the proof."

"You mean you can't lose the story where your father's clean."

Her grip tightened. For a second I thought she'd hit me. Instead she let go and stepped back, and that was worse.

"Say that again," she said.

"Greta gave you his mark on a bone coin. Someone bought him, Liv. Maybe he didn't have a choice. Maybe he did. Either way, if there's proof down there, you don't want me to find it."

The water sound got louder. The cellar was flooding fast—something upstream had broken, maybe a canal lock, maybe a reservoir. We had minutes.

"I want the truth," Liv said.

"No. You want the version that lets you sleep."

She moved before I could block.