Chapter 17 · The Ash Ledger - Chapter 17: Death Clocks for Everyone

The screaming started three seconds after the last node went down.

Rowan ran toward the sound. His mark burned cold. The street opened into a market square and he saw them—fifty, sixty people holding up their wrists like they'd been branded. Black numbers counting backward. Some crying. Some frozen. A kid maybe eight years old staring at his hand.

Mara caught up beside him. "How many."

"All of them." Rowan's gut twisted. "The network didn't just light up the nodes. It tagged everyone inside the barrier."

"Tagged for what?"

Rowan didn't answer. He knew what. The Ledger wanted bodies. Always had. He'd fed it soldiers, officers, scouts. Now it had expanded its menu.

A woman grabbed his coat. "What is this? Get it off. Please."

Her countdown read 71:42:18. Just under three days.

"I don't know yet," Rowan said. Lies came easier now. "Stay calm. We're working on it."

She let go. He pushed forward. Mara stayed close.

"You do know," she said quietly.

"Yeah."

"Tell me."

Rowan stopped at the edge of the fountain. The square had filled.