Chapter 17 · Interest Comes Due

Emma's voice cut out mid-word.

The rift snapped shut like a door slamming in his face. Lucan's knees hit stone. His palms scraped across the floor of the archive chamber, and the Ledger burned against his ribs. Hot. Hungry. The bone tablet wanted something, and it wasn't asking nicely.

Mira grabbed his collar and hauled him up. "Move. Now."

He couldn't. His sister's voice was still ringing in his ears. Noah, don't let him open it. She sounded scared. Emma didn't get scared. She got stubborn, got angry, got that look that meant she'd fight the world with a broken arm if she had to. But scared?

"Lucan." Mira's hand tightened. Her knuckles were white. "They're coming."

Footsteps echoed down the corridor outside. Heavy. Multiple sets. The kind of footsteps that didn't care who heard them because they didn't need to.

He forced his legs to work. "How many?"

"Enough." She pulled him toward the side exit, the one half-hidden behind a shelf of cracked scrolls. Blood dripped from a gash on her forearm. Fresh. She'd already been fighting.

"You're hurt."

"I'm standing. That's what matters." She shoved the shelf aside with her shoulder. The wood groaned.