Chapter 14 · A Message Below

"Let go, Mara."

Kael didn't even look at me. He was staring at the black ledger hovering between us. Its pages flipped without a breeze, fresh ink crawling across the paper in twitching, jagged lines.

KILL THE EXECUTIONER. CONTRACT RELEASED. PRICE PENDING.

I tightened my grip on his wrist. His skin was scorching, even through the torn sleeve of his coat.

"You were about to make this easy," I whispered.

"Easy for who?"

"For the Ledger." I leaned in, my voice dropping. "It wants you dead. One clean cut, and I get my power back. You stop being a problem. Everybody wins."

His jaw flexed. "You don't know what it wants."

"Neither do you. That's the part you keep forgetting."

Behind us, a loud *crack* echoed. Noah was swearing at the tower console, sparks showering his knuckles as he ripped open a metal panel.

"Hate to interrupt the murder marriage," Noah called out, "but the city just added six patrol squads to this roof. We've got two minutes before they hit the elevator shaft."

"We need the evidence," Kael said.

I shoved his hand away. "You mean the evidence that proves you didn't sign my death warrant?"

"Yes.