Chapter 26 · His Mother Holds the Debt

"Open it."

Iris stood in front of the blood ledger, hands flat on the table like she was holding the wood down. The book sat between us, still open to my name. Debtor: Cade Merrick.

"I can't," she said.

"You opened it before."

"That was different."

"How."

She didn't answer. Her shoulders were tight, her jaw set. She looked like she was holding her breath.

I stepped closer. "Iris."

"Don't."

"Tell me how it's different."

She turned her head, just enough that I could see the line of her throat, the pulse jumping under her skin. "Because it wasn't your name then."

The room was too quiet. The ledger sat there, waiting. My name in red ink that didn't look dry.

"Whose debt is it," I said.

She closed her eyes. "Mara's."

The name hit me like cold water. I stepped back. "My mother."

"Yes."

"She's dead."

"Debts don't die with the body," Iris said. Her voice was flat, careful. Like she was reading off a contract. "They transfer. Bloodline first. Then bond. Then proximity."

"I don't owe her anything."

"You're her son."

"I walked away from her fifteen years ago."

Iris opened her eyes.