Chapter 17 · The Dead Open Their Eyes

"You feel that?" Iris grabbed my wrist before I hit the ground.

I did. The whole city pulsed under my ribs like a second heartbeat. Thousands of them. Cold. Waiting.

"What the hell did you do?" She yanked me upright, fingers digging into my arm. Blood still dripped from the gash in my chest, but the wound wasn't closing and I wasn't dying. The curse sat coiled inside me now, quiet. Obedient.

Sable laughed from across the shattered altar. "He signed the eighth contract. Every corpse in the city just became his responsibility."

"That wasn't in the terms." Iris spun toward her, voice cracking. "You said seven jobs. Seven."

"I said seven debts." Sable tilted her head, smile sharp as broken glass. "The eighth one's always hidden. It only triggers when someone bleeds on hallowed ground and survives." Her eyes locked on me. "Congratulations, Merrick. You just became the city's death warden."

The pulse under my ribs spiked. My knees buckled.

"Cade—" Iris caught me, her shoulder under mine, her breath warm against my neck. "Stay with me."

"I'm here." I wasn't sure that was true. The pulse wasn't just a feeling anymore. I could see them now.