Chapter 9 · The Accomplice Mark

"Don't touch the ledger!"

Kael slammed his hand over mine. The black pages bit into our palms, and a jolt of agony tore through my arm so fast my knees buckled.

He caught me before I hit the cracked floor, but the second his fingers locked around my waist, he jerked. He looked like I'd driven a blade straight into his gut.

"Let go," I snapped.

"Stand up first."

"I said let go."

"And I said stand up. Pick one argument, Mara."

Around us, the rift bucked. Blue-white light split the air behind his shoulder. Shards of concrete lifted, spun, and slammed into the far wall. The old transit station groaned like the city was trying to swallow us whole.

Kael dragged me behind a support pillar just as a strip of steel screamed past my head. He hit the concrete hard. Blood soaked through the side of his black coat, running down his arm in thick, dark lines.

"You're bleeding again," I said.

"Sharp eyes."

"You're welcome."

"Mara."

His voice dropped. Not angry. Worse. Controlled.

"What?"

"If the Ledger opens again, you get away from me."

I stared at him.