Chapter 6 · The Brass Oath - Chapter 6: The Undercity Deal

"Don't move a muscle, or I'll let the Council have you back by midnight," Cain snarled, his hand clamped tight around Mara's wrist.

He shoved her back against a damp brick wall, the cold stone biting through her thin tunic. The air in the Undercity smelled like old grease and ozone, thick enough to taste. Mara didn't fight him—not because she wanted to, but because the sigil in her chest was pulsing in a rhythm that matched his heartbeat. It was a sick, humming heat that made her dizzy.

"Get off me," she hissed, though she was leaning into him. "You're not my keeper, Rook."

"Right now? I'm the only thing keeping your lungs from collapsing," he retorted. He didn't let go. Instead, he stepped closer, his chest nearly brushing hers. He was too tall, too solid, and he smelled like rain and expensive tobacco. His eyes searched hers, hard and suspicious, but there was something else there—a flicker of something that looked like guilt.

Mara scoffed, trying to pull away, but the movement triggered a sharp spike of pain in her chest. She gasped, her knees buckling.