Chapter 3

"You said there was one!" I shouted.

"There was one," Kael snapped.

"Then your monster has terrible manners. It brought friends."

Kael shoved himself between me and the nearest thing. He raised his arm, black power snapping across his fingers—then the rune chain around his wrist flashed red. It strangled the spell before it could even form.

The creature lunged.

I drove my elbow into its jaw.

It felt like hitting a brick wrapped in wet leather. The impact jolted up my arm, but the copy staggered. Then it grinned, its mouth splitting too far across its face.

"That one is yours," Kael said.

"You made the call."

"I gave you an order."

"Get in line. The whole city's been ordering me around."

The creature swung. I ducked, then kicked its knee. Bone cracked. The thing folded, but two more shapes rushed past it, long, crooked limbs blurring.

Kael caught one by the throat. The second copy hit him from behind.

His body slammed into mine. His back pressed against my chest, hard and hot through our coats. We were pinned together between the wall and the monster. I could feel his breath on my cheek, the sudden, sharp heat of him.

"Do not let go of me," he whispered.

"Wasn't planning to cuddle."

"You joke when you're scared."

"You give orders when you're scared."

His hand closed around my wrist. The shared mark under my skin burned white-hot.

The creature behind him shrieked. The sound punched through my skull. My knees buckled, and Kael's grip tightened before I hit the floor.

"Stay up," he commanded.

"Take your own advice."

He twisted, dragging me in front of him. He used my body as a shield while the monster's claws raked the space between us. Cold. Efficient. Completely unfair.

I drove my heel down onto his boot.

"Ow."

"Use me as a shield again and I'll break something you actually need."

"You're the only thing keeping them from tearing you apart."

"Try asking nicely."

Kael's eyes dropped to my mouth for one sharp second. His fingers stayed locked around my wrist, the tension between us thicker than the air.

"Please," he said.

The word hit harder than it should have. I hated that he knew it would.

I shoved him away and slashed my knife across the nearest creature's chest. Instead of blood, a spray of black sparks burst from the wound. The monster screamed. The other two screamed with it.

All three heads snapped toward me.

"That was a mistake," Kael said.

"You have a lot of those."

"You cut the anchor."

"The what?"

The injured creature's chest split open. A red light pulsed inside. Then the other two copies opened in the same place. Three glowing cores. Three identical pulses.

The chamber shook. Dust dropped from the ceiling. Beyond the broken arch, alarm bells started screaming.

"Seal the east passage!" a voice roared.

"The rift is spreading!"

"Where is the enforcer?"

Kael looked toward the arch, then back at me. "Council guards."

"Here to save us?"

"Here to kill you."

"Good. I was worried tonight might get boring."

The black ledger snapped open in the air between us. Pages flipped without wind. Dark ink crawled across the paper:

ENTER THE RIFT.

KILL THE EVOLVING THING.

THIRTY DAYS REMAIN.

The mark on my wrist tightened. Pain shot up my arm, locking my fingers around the knife. Kael's face went still.

"You feel that?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Then tell your book to stop squeezing."

"It does not take requests."

"You're its favorite lapdog. Make it listen."

His jaw flexed. He stepped closer, catching my hand before I could claw at the mark. "If you fight the bond, it will close your airway."

"You sound very familiar with that."

"I signed one."

"The execution contract?"

"The first one."

That stopped me. The monsters moved again. Kael pulled me behind a fallen pillar just as a claw punched through the stone where my head had been.

"You signed more than one contract?" I asked.

"I signed what they put in front of me."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you get while we're being hunted."

He drew his sword. A thin line of black energy ran along the edge, weak and uneven. I glanced at the rune chain on his wrist.

"Still locked down."

"Still observant."

"Can you break it?"

"Not from the outside."

"What does that even mean?"

Kael leaned around the pillar and carved into one of the copies. The severed limb hit the ground, twitched, and crawled back toward the creature. The wound closed instantly.

Then a fourth copy stepped out of the shadow.

"You should've mentioned the copying," I snapped.

"You should've read the mission."

"I was busy being framed for murder."

"You're still busy."

The new copy smiled at me. It had the dead heir's face. Young. Clean. The perfect victim. The creature wore it like a mask.

"Kael," I said.

"I see it."

"No, you don't. Look at its eyes."

The copy tilted its head. Its pupils were ringed with silver lines. Council sealwork. The same pattern burned into the report naming me the killer.

"This isn't a wild mutation," I said. "Someone built it."

"Someone fed it."

"You knew?"

"I suspected."

"You suspected and dragged me in anyway?"

"I dragged you in because the ledger ordered it."

"You always hide behind orders?"

His eyes cut to mine. "You always hide behind jokes?"

The answer landed too close. I pulled my wrist free.

The bond flared. Kael sucked in a breath and dropped to one knee. Pain tore through my ribs at the same instant. My old wound opened under my coat. Warm blood slid down my side.

"Damn it." I pressed my hand against the cut.

Kael looked at the blood on his own shirt. "You broke contact."

"I moved my hand!"

"The ledger doesn't care about the difference."

"Then it can learn."

He rose, slower this time. Pale, but steady. The four creatures spread out, cutting off the arch and the stairway. Beyond them, metal doors slammed shut.

The guards were sealing the station. They'd wait for the rift to eat us, then collect whatever was left of Mara Voss.

"We have two exits," Kael said.

"Stairway's blocked. Arch has guards."

"There's a third."

"You said two."

"The rift."

I looked at the red light inside the monster. "You want to walk into that?"

"The ledger wants us inside. If we stay, they keep multiplying. If we enter, we find the original core."

"And if we don't?"

Kael stepped close enough that his shoulder brushed mine. "The rift reaches the upper districts before dawn."

The alarms changed pitch. A deep pulse rolled through the floor. Cracks raced up the walls, glowing red.

I looked at the ledger. The timer flickered.

29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.

"It started counting," I said.

"Yes. And the city gets one less day every minute we waste."

"I understand that I hate this book."

"You can hate it after we survive."

The creature wearing the heir's face stepped forward. "Mara Voss," it said in a broken, human voice. "Murderer."

My fingers tightened on my knife.

Kael moved in front of me. "Do not answer it."

"Why? Afraid it'll hurt my feelings?"

"Afraid it's trying to make you bleed."

The copy smiled wider. "He signed your brother's death."

Kael's sword stopped halfway up. The creature laughed through four throats. "He wrote the report. He watched the fire. He left him there."

My gaze snapped to Kael. His face was empty.

"Tell me it's lying," I said.

"It's using stolen memory."

"That wasn't what I asked."

"Mara."

"Did you sign it?"

The creature rushed us. Kael caught my waist and pulled me backward, his sword splitting the copy's face. Black fluid hissed down the center.

His hand stayed at my waist for one breath too long. I felt the heat of his palm, the hard rise and fall of his chest against my shoulder blades.

Then he let go.

"Yes," he said.

The answer was quiet. It still struck like a slap.

I shoved him away. "You signed my brother's death."

"Under command."

"You put your name on it!"

"I was seventeen."

Even the rift seemed to pause. Kael's eyes stayed on mine.

"They chained me to the record table," he said. "They put a blade against my mother's throat. I signed. Your brother was already dead when I got there."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"No. I expect you to use it. You've been doing that since you saw the scar on my hand."

"Maybe I will keep using it."

"You will. Angry people make better decisions than frightened ones."

"That's the first useful thing you've said."

One of the copies sprang from the side. I ducked. Kael's arm hooked around my neck and dragged me down with him. His knee hit the floor between mine. The creature sailed over us and smashed into the wall.

For an instant, Kael was braced above me, one hand planted beside my head, his face inches from mine. His breath was hot against my cheek.

"You trust me yet?" he asked.

"You signed my brother's death."

"So that's a no."

"That's a very loud no."

His gaze dropped to the mark on my wrist. "Then trust the bond."

"The bond hurts me whenever you get hurt. That's not trust. That's a hostage situation."

"It's the only reason I'm still standing."

He pushed up and grabbed my hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Breaking the chain."

"You just said you couldn't."

"I said I couldn't break it from the outside."

Kael pressed my palm against the rune chain. The metal was hot. Hot enough to sting. His other hand closed around the back of my neck, holding me still.

"If you pull away, the chain takes your power first," he said. "If you stay, it takes mine."

"And you waited until now to mention that?"

"You were busy threatening my bones."

"I can multitask."

"Then listen. I'm going to push power through you. You'll feel it in every joint. Do not fight it."

"What happens if I do?"

"Your heart locks."

"You really need better bedside manners."

"Mara."

The way he said my name made the joke die in my throat. His thumb rested against the pulse beneath my jaw. He could feel how fast it was beating. He didn't mention it. Neither did I.

"Do it," I said.

Kael bent his head. His forehead touched mine. The contact wasn't gentle—it was an anchor. His skin was warm, his breath uneven, his hand firm around my neck without squeezing.

"Do not let go," he whispered.

"You keep saying that."

"Because you keep trying to die."

"I'm starting to think you like having me around."

"I like winning."

"Same answer, dressed up in armor."

His eyes flashed. Then the power hit.

Black energy poured through the mark. My spine arched. A cry tore out of me before I could bite it back. Heat raced through my shoulders and down my arms. The cut in my side burned as the bond pulled Kael's strength into me.

His hand tightened at my neck.

"Stay with me."

"I'm trying."

"Say it."

"I'm staying."

"Again."

"I'm staying, Kael."

The chain screeched—