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"Tell me who paid you to blow the tower." Sera's knee drove into Eli's ribs, pinning him to the cracked floor. Her blade pressed under his jaw. "Now."
Eli sucked in a breath and tasted blood. "You always interrogate people before introducing yourself?"
"You know who I am."
"Everybody in this city knows who you are. Court hound. Dead man's daughter. Terrible bedside manner."
Her eyes sharpened. The blade pushed harder. "Say one more thing about my father."
"What? You'll arrest me twice?"
The blackglass wound under Eli's shirt flared.
Heat ripped across his chest. He jerked against her grip, and black light cracked through the cut like fire trapped under ice.
Sera's expression changed. Not fear. Calculation.
"Take off the shirt," she said.
"Buy me dinner first."
She caught his wrist, twisted it behind his back, and hauled him halfway upright. His shoulder slammed against a metal support beam. The edge of her coat brushed his cheek. She smelled like cold steel, burnt cedar, and the sharp soap court officers used to pretend they weren't human.
"You have three choices," she said. "Talk, bleed, or let me call the execution squad."
"That third one sounds like your favorite."
"It is when the evidence is this clean. You were found beside the tower core. Your tools were in the blast chamber. Your black-market mark was burned into the control panel."
"My mark was copied."
"The tower still came down."
"And you still haven't told me why you're not dragging me to a cell."
Sera's fingers tightened around his wrist.
Eli grinned, though his chest felt like it was being split open. "There it is. The part you don't want me to notice."
"You don't get to notice anything."
"You found me alone. No guards. No cuffs. No witnesses. That's not an arrest. That's a question you can't ask in public."
For half a second, her thumb stopped moving against his pulse.
Eli caught it.
So did she.
Sera shoved him down again. "You think being clever will save you?"
"No. I think knowing what scares you might."
Her blade vanished from his throat.
That should have been good news. It wasn't.
Sera grabbed the front of his shirt and ripped the fabric aside. The blackglass wound spread from his left collarbone toward his heart. It wasn't bleeding anymore. A jagged strip of dark crystal sat beneath his skin, pulsing with each heartbeat.
Sera stared at it.
"That's not a burn," she said.
"Gold star."
"What did you put in yourself?"
"Nothing. Someone put it in me."
"Who?"
"The same person who framed me, maybe. Ask the court. They seem to know everything else."
The crystal pulsed again.
A thin black line snapped away from the wound and crawled across Eli's chest. He clenched his teeth.
Sera leaned closer. Her braid slid over one shoulder, nearly touching him. "How long?"
"How long what?"
"How long until it reaches your heart?"
"You asking because you care?"
"I'm asking because if it reaches your heart, you take half a district with you."
Eli's smile faded.
There it was. The thing no one had told him. The curse didn't just want him dead. It wanted a way out.
Sera saw the answer land in his face.
"You didn't know," she said.
"I know plenty."
"You didn't know."
"Shut up."
"How many people were in your building when the tower exploded?"
"Don't."
"How many?"
Eli pulled hard against her hold. She drove her forearm between his shoulder blades and forced him flat. Her weight locked him down. Her mouth was close to his ear now, her voice low and merciless.
"Answer me."
"Three."
"Alive?"
"One."
"Your sister?"
The room seemed to shrink around him.
Sera felt his body go still.
"There she is," she murmured. "The piece you forgot to hide."
"If you touched Naya—"
"I didn't. The court did."
Eli bucked hard enough to throw her balance. He rolled, caught her coat, and dragged her down with him. They hit the floor shoulder to shoulder. Her blade skittered away, but she moved faster. A fist caught him under the chin. His teeth clicked together.
He grabbed her wrist before she could strike again.
"Where is she?"
"Ask nicer."
He twisted her arm behind her back.
Sera hissed, then laughed once. It wasn't warm. It was the sound of someone who'd just found a loaded weapon.
"Careful, Voss."
"Where is my sister?"
"In a court holding house. Unless the judges decide your arrest is taking too long."
"You have a warrant."
"I have an execution order."
"Then why are we talking?"
Sera turned her head. Her cheek brushed the floor, but her eyes stayed on him. "Because the order says to kill you on sight. It doesn't say what I do before sight."
Eli's grip tightened.
"You came alone," he said. "You want something."
"I want the curse out of you."
"That's not possible."
"For a fixer, you sound badly informed."
"For a court officer, you sound desperate."
Her gaze dropped to the blackglass under his skin. "I watched my father die from the same pattern."
Eli went quiet.
Sera used the pause to wrench free. She slammed his hand to the floor and planted her knee beside his hip. Not on him this time. Close enough to make the point.
"He didn't explode a tower," Eli said.
"No. He investigated one."
"And the court killed him for it?"
"The court called it an accident."
"You believe them?"
"I believe the man who signed the report is now sitting on the power council."
That landed harder than her fist.
Sera reached for the knife. Eli caught her sleeve.
"You want the truth about the tower," he said. "I want Naya out."
"You want a deal."
"You want one too."
"I don't make deals with bombers."
"You just said you needed me alive. That's a deal with extra steps."
She looked at his hand on her sleeve. Then at his face.
"Let go."
"Tell me where Naya is."
"Let go."
"Say it."
Sera moved so quickly Eli barely saw it. She drove her palm into his chest, right over the blackglass wound.
The curse woke.
Pain tore through him. Black fire burst from the wound and shot into Sera's hand.
She gasped.
Eli felt her fingers lock against him. Her skin went hot beneath his palm. Dark lines flashed under her wrist, racing toward her elbow.
"Get off me," she snapped.
"You're the one holding on."
"Pull away."
"I can't."
"Then break my arm."
"Gladly, but I don't think that fixes the cursed-fire problem."
The blackglass climbed higher on her arm.
Sera's jaw clenched. Sweat gathered at her temple. She tried to wrench her hand free, but the curse held them together with a burning thread.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
"You touched it."
"You said it was inside you."
"It is. Apparently it likes company."
"You think this is funny?"
"No. I think we're both about thirty seconds from finding out whether your uniform can stop a magical detonation."
Sera looked at the spreading lines. Her breathing turned sharp and fast. "How do we stop it?"
"You tell me. You're the officer with all the secret weapons."
"I asked how."
"We need a stabilizer."
"You have one?"
"I had one. Your people seized my workshop."
"The workshop full of illegal engines?"
"The workshop full of things keeping people alive."
"You built the tower charge."
"I repaired an illegal pressure engine. That isn't the same thing."
"Your mark was on the blast panel."
"My mark is on half the machines in the Old Foundry. Anyone can copy it."
"Why would anyone frame you?"
"Because the court needs a monster it can execute before anyone asks who gave the order."
Sera's eyes lifted to his.
The black lines had reached the inside of her elbow.
"And you know who gave it?"
"Not yet."
"But you have a name."
"I have a buyer who disappeared, a dead courier, and a lockbox that only opens when the tower network recognizes the right blood."
"Whose blood?"
"That's the fun part."
Sera grabbed his collar with her free hand and pulled his face close. Her breath hit his mouth, hot and uneven. "Don't play with me."
"You hate when I do that."
"I hate that you're still smiling."
"You keep getting close enough to check."
For one tight second, neither moved.
Her thumb rested against the side of his throat. His hand was still around her wrist. He could feel her pulse jumping beneath his fingers.
Then the blackglass flared again.
Sera shoved him away, but the curse dragged them back together. Their shoulders struck the wall. Her back hit first. Eli ended up braced over her, one hand beside her head, the other locked with hers.
"We need a pact," she said.
"No."
"You didn't even hear the terms."
"I know what court pacts do. They chain magic to a living anchor."
"They stop curses."
"They also let the anchor feel every lie, every injury, every attempt to run."
"Then don't lie or run."
"And what do you get?"
"Control."
"There it is."
"I keep you alive. You lead me to the lockbox."
"You keep my sister alive."
Sera's face tightened. "I can move her."
"No. You can order people around. That's different."
"I can move her before dawn."
"And if your command gets blocked?"
"It won't."
"You don't know that."
"Neither do you."
"Then swear it."
Sera leaned in until their foreheads nearly touched. "You don't get to demand anything."
"I'm the only one who knows how to repair what's under your skin."
"You don't know how."
"I know more than you do."
"That's not enough."
"It's enough to keep you from burning through your own arm before we reach the next street."
Her gaze dropped to his mouth, quick as a spark. She caught herself and looked away.
Eli noticed. He shouldn't have. He did anyway.
"You need me," he said softly.
"I need your hands. Don't confuse the two."
"You keep staring at my hands."
"I keep deciding where to break them."
"Still thinking about it?"
She pressed two fingers under his jaw and forced his face toward hers. "I can end this with one command."
"Then do it."
Her thumb brushed his pulse.
The touch lasted half a second too long.
Sera's eyes narrowed. "You want to die?"
"I want you to stop pretending this is only about the order."
"You think you know me because you fixed three engines and stole one file?"
"I know you don't trust the court. I know you hid the execution order from your own squad. I know your father's death report has a seal from a department that didn't exist until two years after he died."
Her fingers went still.
Eli smiled without humor. "My turn to ask questions."
"You broke into my records."
"Your records were begging for help."
"Who else saw the report?"
"Nobody who lived long enough to gossip."
Sera's hand slid from his jaw to the front of his shirt. She didn't shove him away. She pulled him closer instead.
"If you're lying—"
"Then kill me after you get the truth."
"If you betray me, I will personally drag you to the tower ruins and let the curse finish the job."
"That's almost romantic."
"Don't make me regret leaving you conscious."
She pulled a thin metal ring from beneath her collar. It was black, smooth, and stamped with a silver court seal.
Eli stared at it. "No."
"Say yes."
"Find another anchor."
"The curse already chose me."
"Then cut off the hand."
"You first."
The lines on her arm reached her shoulder.
Eli's chest burned so badly that his vision shook. He could hear a second heartbeat now. Hers. Fast. Furious. Too close to his own.
Sera placed the ring against the center of his wound.
The blackglass cracked around it.
"Pact terms," she said. "You stay within twenty feet of me. You repair what I bring you. You don't lie about the tower, the curse, or your sister."
"And you?"
"I keep Naya alive and move her to a protected house."
"Not enough. You clear my name if the evidence proves I'm innocent."
"If it proves you're innocent, I'll clear it."
"You return my tools."
"The ones that aren't evidence."
"You don't use the pact to control my mind."
"I don't need magic for that."
"Sera."
Her mouth twitched. Almost a smile. Almost.
"Fine," she said. "No mind control. No killing you unless the curse makes it necessary."
"That wasn't part of the deal."
"It is now."
"And you don't hand me over when this is done."
"If you're guilty, I do."
"If I'm innocent?"
She held his gaze. "Then you walk."
"You swear?"
"On my blood."
"Court blood isn't worth much."
Her eyes went cold. "Careful."
"On your father's name, then."
The words hit her like a slap.
Eli expected anger. He got something quieter. Sera's hand tightened around the ring until the metal cut into her palm.
"You don't get to use him."
"You don't get to use my sister."
They stayed locked together, breathing hard, the curse burning between them.
Sera lowered her voice. "Say the terms."
"You first."
"You're impossible."
"You're holding a magic ring to my heart. We passed impossible ten minutes ago."
She leaned closer. Her hair brushed his cheek. "I swear to keep Naya Voss alive and hidden from the court until this pact ends. I swear to help prove who destroyed the tower. I swear not to surrender you while the curse remains active."
The ring warmed.
Eli felt the magic reach for him.
"Your turn," she said.
"I swear to repair the curse, find the lockbox, and tell you every truth I uncover about the tower."
"And?"
"I stay within twenty feet."
"And?"
"I don't run."
"Say the last one."
"I don't lie to you."
The pact waited.
Eli looked at her arm. The black lines had stopped at her shoulder, but only barely. He looked back at her face. Sera Vale, court enforcer, father's daughter, the woman holding his life in one hand and his sister's in the other.
"I swear," he said.
The ring snapped shut.
Black light burst between them.
Sera cried out and grabbed his shirt. Eli's back hit the wall. Heat raced from his wound into his chest, then down both arms. The curse pulled tight, not like a chain around his throat, but like a second pulse woven through his bones.
A silver mark burned into Sera's wrist.
A matching black mark appeared beneath Eli's collarbone.
He tried to pull away.
The pact yanked him back so hard their foreheads collided.
"Damn it," he breathed.
Sera's breath shook against his mouth. "Don't move."
"You just chained me to you."
"You agreed."
"I agreed to terms. I didn't agree to your magic throwing me into your face."
"Then stop fighting it."
"You first."
For one dangerous beat, her hand stayed curled in his shirt. Her fingers pressed into the fabric over his chest. His palm was still wrapped around her wrist, right beneath the new mark.
The shared pulse slowed.
Not calm. Never calm.
Just matched.
Sera felt it too. Her eyes lifted to his, and something unguarded crossed her face before she buried it under that hard officer's stare.
Then footsteps thundered beyond the metal door.
A voice shouted, "Vale! Step away from the prisoner!"
Sera's hand went to her weapon.
Eli caught her elbow. "How many?"
"Six. Maybe eight."
"Your squad?"
"No."
"You brought me here without telling them."
"I told them to wait outside."
"And now they're here to kill me."
The door shook under a heavy impact.
"Open the door, Officer Vale!" the voice barked. "By order of the High Court!"
Sera looked at the fresh mark on her wrist.
Eli saw the exact moment she understood what the pact had done. Her court seal had changed. The silver lines folded into a new symbol, one half crown and one half blackglass shard.
A thin metal plate slid under the door.
The court order stamped itself open with a flash of red magic.
Eli read the first line upside down.
LIVING POWER CORE: ELI VOSS.
The second line burned brighter.
EXECUTION AUTHORIZED ON SIGHT.
Sera snatched the order before it could finish unfolding.
"They knew," Eli said.
"Quiet."
"They knew the curse was in me. They wanted me alive long enough to—"
"I said quiet."
The door shook again.
Sera pulled him toward the rear wall. The pact tightened between them, forcing his shoulder against hers. Her fingers closed around his wrist, warm and firm.
"There isn't another exit," he whispered.
"There is."
"Where?"
She looked at the blackglass wound beneath his torn shirt.
"Through the core channel."
Eli stared at her. "That's not an exit. That's a furnace."
"You built half the illegal engines in the Foundry."
"And you want me to put us inside a power line?"
"I want you to keep us alive."
"You said the pact would stop the curse."
"It did."
"Then why can I hear your heartbeat?"
Her gaze locked on his. "Because it didn't stop it. It joined us."
The door bolts began to turn.
Sera pressed her palm over his wound again. This time, the curse answered both of them.
Black light spilled across their joined hands.
Eli grabbed her waist to keep them from falling as the floor buckled. Her body struck his, hard and close, her breath catching against his throat.
"Don't let go," she said.
"Wasn't planning to."
"If this fails—"
"It won't."
"You don't know that."
"No. But I know you're going to hate being wrong."
The door burst inward.
Court soldiers raised their weapons.
Sera turned, placing herself between Eli and the barrels. Her mark blazed silver.
"Stand down," she ordered.
The soldiers froze.
One of them lifted a red-sealed warrant. "Vale, the pact is forbidden. Release the prisoner and step away."
"You heard the order," Sera said. "Back up."
"Your authority is suspended."
"By whose command?"
The soldier looked at the paper.
Eli saw the seal at the bottom. It wasn't the High Court's crown.
It was the same hidden mark burned into his wound.
"Sera," he said. "The order isn't from the court."
She glanced back.
The blackglass under Eli's skin split open in the shape of a crown.
At the same instant, the silver mark on Sera's wrist clamped shut like a lock.
A voice from the warrant began to read, "By authority of the Crown, the living core is to be executed, and Officer Vale is hereby declared—"
Sera's fingers tightened around Eli's arm. The pact pulled him against her as the soldiers raised their weapons, and she whispered, "Eli, if that mark finishes closing, you—