Chapter 8 · The Brass Oath - Chapter 8: The Buyer in Tunnel Nine

"Keep your hands off that door, Mara."

Cain caught her wrist before her fingers touched the brass latch. His grip locked around her hard enough to stop her, not hard enough to bruise. Not yet.

"Let go."

"There are three trigger plates under your boots. Move wrong, and the tunnel drops on us."

Mara glanced down. The stone floor looked solid. Her pulse disagreed. Thin brass lines ran between the blocks, almost invisible under the grime.

"You knew they were there."

"I suspected."

"You brought me into a trap based on a suspicion?"

Cain stepped closer, forcing her back against the tunnel wall. His coat brushed her knees. His body blocked the only clear path forward, and the oath under her ribs answered with a hot twist.

"I brought you here because the core is inside," he said. "You want your name cleared. I want the buyer alive long enough to talk. We both get what we want if you stop trying to kill us."

"You mean if I stop trying to kill you."

"That too."

His breath touched her cheek. Warm. Controlled.