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"Get your hands off my sister!" Eli Voss drove his elbow into the guard's throat and twisted hard enough to make the man's helmet crack against the brick wall.
The guard gagged. His grip loosened.
Eli tore free, but a second armored hand caught the back of his coat and slammed him face-first into the workbench. Metal tools jumped. A glass vial shattered beside his cheek.
"Eli Voss," the guard growled. "By order of the Court, you're under arrest for the Blackglass Tower bombing."
"Then arrest the bastard who sold you that story."
"Shut up."
The guard forced Eli's wrist behind his back and snapped a restraint around it. Pain shot up his arm.
Across the room, Naya stood frozen beside the broken engine core. She was sixteen, too thin for the court-issued gray coat they had put her in, with one hand clamped over the bruise under her jaw.
Three guards had her surrounded.
"Naya," Eli said. "Don't fight them."
"You told me not to trust anybody wearing a silver badge."
"I know what I told you."
"You also said you had a plan."
"I had one. Then these idiots arrived early."
The guard shoved Eli's cheek harder against the bench. "Your plan ends in a prison cell. Hers ends in a custody block. If you want her fed, keep your mouth shut."
Eli's fingers curled against the restraint.
The custody blocks were under the Court Hall. No windows. No visitors. No release unless the Court decided a person had earned it. Naya would disappear behind those walls before sunset.
The guard leaned close. "Now stand up."
"Take your hand off him."
The voice came from the doorway.
Every guard turned.
A woman stood there in a dark officer's coat, one gloved hand resting on the grip of a short black pistol. A silver Court badge caught the weak light near her collar. Her pale hair was pulled tight at the nape of her neck, and her eyes locked on Eli like she had already decided where his body would fall.
The guard holding him straightened. "Officer Vale. We have the bomber."
"You have a suspect." She stepped inside. "If he were the bomber, you would already be dead."
The guard's face tightened. "He resisted arrest."
"You put him through a workbench. I can see the splinters in his face."
"He attacked first."
"And you believed that was worth damaging evidence?"
The guard glanced at the engine parts scattered across the bench.
Eli smiled against the wood. "She called you stupid without using the word. That's almost sweet."
Vale's gaze cut to him. "You have about three seconds before I make your next injury official."
"Officer, the order says—"
"I can read." She drew the pistol. "Release him."
The guard hesitated.
Vale raised the weapon until the muzzle pointed at the side of his helmet. "I said release him."
The restraint clicked open.
Eli spun and drove his shoulder into the guard's chest. The man stumbled into two others. Naya ducked as a baton swung over her head.
"Run!" Eli shouted.
She grabbed a loose iron bar and smashed it into the nearest guard's knee.
"I thought you said not to fight!"
"I changed my mind!"
Vale fired once.
The shot cracked through the workshop. The bullet punched the lock on the back door. Not one guard moved for half a second.
That half second saved Eli's life.
He seized Naya's hand and dragged her through the opening. Behind them, Vale shouted orders. Boots pounded after them.
"You shot the door!" Naya yelled.
"She shot the lock."
"That woman is worse than the guards!"
"For once, we agree."
They raced down the narrow service passage. Eli's lungs burned. His left wrist throbbed where the restraint had cut him, but the pain under his ribs was worse. It had started three days ago as a thin black line. Now it spread across his chest in branching cracks, hot enough to make every breath feel like swallowing sparks.
Naya glanced at him. "You're bleeding."
"Not mine."
"Your shirt is black. The blood is black. That's definitely yours."
"Keep moving."
A bolt of blue court magic slammed into the wall beside them. Brick burst across Eli's shoulder.
Naya screamed.
"Down!"
Eli shoved her beneath a metal pipe as another spell tore through the passage. The air snapped with heat. His teeth clicked together.
Vale's voice carried from behind them. "Eli! Stop running!"
"You first!" he shouted back.
"Your sister is still alive because I am the one chasing you. The next squad won't be that careful."
Eli looked at Naya. Her face had gone white, but she was gripping the iron bar with both hands.
"She is lying," Naya whispered.
"Probably."
"You don't sound sure."
"I hate that part."
He pulled her up and kicked open a rusted grate. They spilled into an abandoned engine bay below the Old Foundry, landing hard on a platform of black iron.
The guards stopped at the grate above.
"Seal the exits!" someone yelled.
Eli grabbed Naya's shoulders. "Listen to me. There's a lift under the main platform. You take it down three levels. Marlow will find you."
"No."
"Naya—"
"No. You always say that when you plan to stay behind and do something stupid."
"This time I mean it."
"That makes it worse."
The black cracks under Eli's shirt pulsed.
A sharp wave of heat folded him in half. He caught himself against a pipe, breathing through his teeth.
Naya's expression changed. "Eli. What is that?"
"A problem."
"It has been a problem for three days. You said it was a burn."
"It was a burn."
"Burns don't move."
The cracks crawled higher beneath his collar.
Above them, metal groaned. The guards were forcing the grate open.
Eli shoved Naya toward the lift hatch. "Go."
"Tell me what happened."
"Later."
"You keep promising later like we have one."
The grate tore free.
A guard dropped through and landed on the platform. Two more followed. The first raised a spell baton.
Eli stepped in front of Naya.
"Last chance," the guard said. "Kneel."
"You came all the way down here to ask nicely?"
The baton flashed.
Eli slapped his palm against the nearest engine housing.
The old machine answered.
He felt the dead metal as clearly as his own bones—the clogged feed line, the cracked pressure seal, the weak copper coil hidden beneath the casing. Every illegal engine he had repaired had taught him the same trick. Machines talked in failure. He only had to listen.
"Eli," Naya said. "What are you doing?"
"Buying us a door."
He drove his thumb into the housing and pulled.
Black light poured through the engine seams.
The guard's baton went dark.
"What the hell—"
The engine roared.
A wave of force blasted across the platform. Guards flew backward into the railing. One dropped his weapon. Another crashed through a stack of empty crates.
Naya hit the floor, then looked up at Eli. "You said that thing was dead."
"It was."
"Dead things don't throw people."
"This one had a bad day."
The machine's black glow spread into Eli's hand. Heat punched through his palm and raced up his arm. His vision blurred.
The cracks on his chest opened wider.
He smelled scorched cloth.
Naya grabbed his sleeve. "Let go!"
"I can't."
"Then cut your hand off!"
"Great plan. You first."
The engine screamed again.
A shadow dropped from the upper walkway.
Vale landed between Eli and the doorway, coat snapping around her legs. Her pistol was already aimed at his chest.
Eli released the engine.
The black light vanished. The machine collapsed with a heavy clang.
Vale did not look at the guards. She looked only at Eli.
"Move away from the girl," she said.
Eli kept one arm in front of Naya. "You shot at us."
"I shot a lock."
"Your people fired spells at our heads."
"My people are unconscious. You did that."
"You are welcome."
Her finger rested beside the trigger. "Step away."
"No."
"That wasn't a request."
"You Court officers love saying that. Does it make you feel taller?"
Vale crossed the distance in three quick steps.
Eli barely lifted his arm before she caught his wrist and drove him back against the engine housing. The metal hit his spine. Her body stayed close enough for him to feel the heat through their coats.
Naya raised the iron bar.
Vale shifted her pistol toward her without taking her eyes off Eli. "Drop it."
"Touch him again and I break your hand."
"You can try."
"Naya," Eli said. "Drop the bar."
"You just told me not to trust her."
"I still don't. Drop it anyway."
Naya lowered the bar, but she did not let go.
Vale pressed Eli's wrist higher. Her glove was cold. Her breath brushed his cheek when she leaned in.
"You are going to tell me what happened at the Blackglass Tower," she said.
"I was fixing an engine."
"The tower exploded twenty minutes later."
"Then your tower has terrible maintenance."
"Six people died."
The joke left his mouth and died there.
Vale watched his face. "Still want to be clever?"
"I wasn't at the tower."
"Your blood was found in the control chamber."
"My blood gets around."
"Your tools were found under the main conduit."
"Somebody stole them."
"And your name was written into the detonation code."
Eli stared at her. "That code needs a living mark."
"It had yours."
"Then someone used it."
"Who?"
"If I knew, I would be chasing them instead of being pinned to a dead engine by a woman with a gun."
Her eyes narrowed. "You think this is funny?"
"No. I think you are enjoying the part where I can't hit you."
For the first time, her expression slipped. Not much. Just a tiny pause, her eyes dropping to his mouth before snapping back up.
Eli noticed.
So did she.
Her grip tightened. "Keep talking and I will give you a reason to stop."
"That sounds personal."
"It is professional."
"Then why are you holding my wrist like you want to break it yourself?"
Vale shoved his arm higher. His shoulder burned.
"Because you are dangerous."
"You came down here alone."
"I came down here first. The execution team is two minutes behind me."
Naya stepped closer. "Execution?"
Vale's gaze flicked toward her. "The Court has classified him as a blackglass carrier. If the curse reaches his heart, they will burn this entire level."
Eli went still.
Naya turned on him. "You said it was a burn."
"I was trying to keep you from panicking."
"You lied."
"Yes."
"How long?"
"I don't know."
Vale leaned closer. "You have less than an hour."
Eli laughed once, without humor. "You brought bad news and a pistol. Very efficient."
"I brought the only thing that can slow it."
"Your charming personality?"
"My blood."
The words landed harder than the gun.
Vale released his wrist and seized the front of his shirt. She pulled him away from the housing, then ripped the torn fabric aside just enough to expose the black cracks beneath his ribs.
Naya made a small sound.
The mark was no longer a thin stain. It had formed a jagged ring around Eli's left side, with tiny sparks crawling toward his chest.
Vale's jaw tightened. "Damn it. It has already rooted."
"You recognize it."
"I recognize what it does."
"Then fix it."
"You don't give orders here."
"You dragged me off the floor. You get one useful answer before I start making suggestions."
She pressed two fingers against the blackglass wound.
Pain ripped through him.
Eli's knees buckled. Vale caught him by the collar and kept him upright, her face inches from his.
"Hold still," she said.
"Get your hand off me."
"If I do, the curse reaches your heart."
"Then find a better solution."
"I am the better solution."
Her fingers glowed silver.
The curse reacted instantly.
Black heat surged out from under Eli's skin and wrapped around Vale's wrist. Her breath caught. The silver light snapped like a wire under pressure.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
"I didn't do anything!"
"It is pulling from me."
"Then let go!"
Vale tried to pull her hand away.
The blackglass held her.
A thin black line raced beneath the skin of her forearm.
Naya raised the iron bar again. "Shoot him."
Vale's eyes stayed on Eli. "If I shoot him, it will finish the transfer."
"Then shoot yourself."
"Naya!"
"She said she was the solution!"
Vale grabbed Eli's shoulder with her free hand. Her fingers dug through his coat. "Tell me how to break the contact."
"You are the officer. You tell me."
"I am asking once."
"And I am enjoying watching you panic."
Her face came closer. He could feel her breath against his skin, quick and warm now. Her eyes were hard, but the pulse in her throat jumped under the edge of her collar.
"I do not panic," she said.
"Your hand is shaking."
"It is not."
"Your pulse says otherwise."
"You can read pulses?"
"Only when they are pressed against me."
For one sharp second, neither of them moved.
Then the black line reached Vale's elbow.
She slammed Eli against the housing again. "The curse feeds on denial. Admit what you are."
"A wanted man?"
"The carrier."
"A fixer."
"The thing under your skin."
"I don't know what it is!"
The blackglass flared.
Vale sucked in a breath and gripped his shirt harder. "You know enough."
"I know somebody planted it in me. I know the Court wants me dead. I know my sister gets locked away if you take me. That's all."
"Who planted it?"
"I said I don't know."
"Liar."
"Officer Vale!" A voice shouted from the upper grate. "Step away from the suspect! The execution unit is here!"
Vale's face went cold.
Eli caught the change. "You said two minutes."
"They came faster."
"You planned to hand me over?"
"I planned to question you first."
"And now?"
She looked down at her arm.
The black line had reached her shoulder.
"Now you are attached to me."
"That is not my favorite sentence today."
"If they see this mark, they will kill both of us."
"Then stop touching me."
"I cannot."
The admission came out low and rough.
Eli felt it in the narrow space between them. Her glove was still locked around his wrist. Her other hand pressed against his chest, right over the burning cracks. Every breath brought the clean scent of metal and cedar from her coat.
He should have shoved her away.
Instead, he said, "You are going to tell them I escaped."
"They won't believe me."
"Make them. You have the badge. The gun. The whole terrifying officer routine."
"You think a badge can erase a curse?"
"No. But it can buy us ten seconds."
"What do you mean, us?"
"Your arm is turning black, Vale. You are in this now."
Her eyes flashed. "Do not call me Vale like we are partners."
"Fine. Sera."
Her fingers jerked against his chest.
"Don't use my first name."
"Why? Does it hurt?"
"No. It distracts me."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Eli's mouth went dry.
Sera realized what she had said and shoved him harder. "Move."
"You are still holding me."
"Because if I let go, we both die."
"That almost sounds like a request."
"It is an order."
"Then order your curse to release me."
The execution unit reached the lower platform.
Six black-armored officers spread out behind Sera, weapons raised. Their masks hid their faces. Their spell rifles hummed with pale blue light.
The lead officer pointed at Eli. "Blackglass carrier. Kneel and place your hands behind your head."
Eli lifted his free hand. "I would, but your officer has me occupied."
"Sera Vale," the lead officer said, "step aside."
Sera did not move.
"Officer Vale. Step aside now."
Her pistol came up in one smooth motion.
Not toward Eli.
Toward the execution unit.
The lead officer stiffened. "What are you doing?"
"Changing the arrest order."
"You are compromised."
"I am still standing."
"The mark says otherwise."
Sera's gun hand stayed steady, but her other hand remained pressed to Eli's chest. The black line had spread beneath her collar now.
Eli looked at it. "You should really stop pretending you are fine."
"You should really stop talking."
"Can't. You keep me alive when you touch me."
"And you keep the curse from reaching my heart."
"So we need each other."
"Say that again and I will shoot you myself."
"You keep threatening that."
"I mean it."
The lead officer raised his rifle. "Sera, remove your hand from the carrier."
"No."
"That is a direct command."
"I heard you."
"You have ten seconds."
Eli felt the blackglass pulse between them. It was no longer only heat. It was pressure, like a second heartbeat beating under both their skin.
He leaned closer, keeping his voice low. "If they fire, the curse jumps into everyone nearby."
Sera's eyes cut to him. "You know that how?"
"Because the machine told me."
"Machines don't talk."
"The dead ones do."
A warning tone sounded from the execution rifles.
Sera's thumb moved over the side of her pistol.
Eli watched her face. The hard officer mask was still there, but fear had slipped under it. Not fear for herself. Fear of what would happen if she chose wrong.
He lowered his mouth near her ear. "Put the gun down, and they kill us. Fire, and maybe you kill me first."
"You are enjoying this far too much."
"I enjoy having choices."
"You don't have any."
"Neither do you."
Her gaze dropped to his lips again.
This time, she did not look away fast enough.
The execution leader shouted, "Last warning!"
Sera's pistol shifted.
The muzzle pressed against Eli's chest, directly over the blackglass cracks.
Naya whispered, "Eli..."
He did not take his eyes off Sera. "Tell me you have a plan."
Her breath touched his cheek. Her hand tightened against the burning mark. Black lines flashed beneath both their skin.
"I do," she said.
The execution rifles charged with a rising whine.
Sera's finger settled on the trigger, and she leaned close enough to murmur, "But first, you need to—"