Chapter 21 · The Dead Woman's Signature

"Why is my mother's name in your fucking book?"

Mara's gun was still in her hand, blood from her cut palm smearing the grip. The ledger hung between us, black pages glowing with that list I didn't ask for. My name at the top. Hers at the bottom.

Elara Quinn.

"I don't know," I said.

"Bullshit." She stepped closer. The muzzle came up. "You don't get her name without a reason."

"I didn't put it there."

"Then who did?"

"The ledger."

She laughed, sharp and ugly. "The ledger. Right. The magic book that just happens to know my dead mother."

I held still. The gun was three feet from my chest. Her hand wasn't shaking anymore.

"How long has she been in there?" Mara's voice dropped. Colder now. "How long have you been carrying her name around?"

"Since thirty seconds ago when you bled on the page."

Her jaw tightened. "You're saying I put her there."

"I'm saying the ledger took your blood and showed us something we weren't supposed to see."

"Us." She spat the word. "There's no us, Vale. There's you, and the thing wearing your face, and my mother's name in a book that shouldn't exist.