Chapter 18 · The Freight Line Lie

"You're bleeding on my cuff."

I yanked my hand back. The bandage I'd wrapped around my palm was already soaked through, red seeping into the binding chain between us. Calder didn't look at me. He was staring down the rail yard like he could see through the fog and the stacked containers all the way to the freight line at the edge of the monster blocks.

"I don't care about your cuff," I said. "I care about the file that says I shouldn't trust you."

"Then don't."

"Calder—"

"Drop it, Voss." He started walking. The cuff yanked me forward before I could plant my feet. I stumbled, caught myself on a rusted ladder bolted to the side of a container, and swore.

"Stop pulling me around like a damn dog."

He stopped. Turned. His wings were half-folded, stone feathers edged in frost under the yard lights. "You want answers? Fine. Your dad's file is half lies and half dirt Seraphine planted to keep people like you from asking questions. The rest of it—the part that matters—is on that freight car. So we walk, or we stand here bleeding till the cuff decides you're done."

I shoved past him. "Then move."