Chapter 27 · No One Signs for Me

The archive door opened another inch.

Cold silver light spilled through the gap and crawled across the floor between them. It touched Soren's bloodied hand, Tavi's knife, Nara's bare feet. Wherever it passed, dust rose in tiny spirals, as if the underground room had begun to breathe.

Beyond the door, something clicked.

Then clicked again.

Tavi tightened his grip on the knife. "That is not a lock."

"No," Soren said. He leaned harder against the wall, one arm clamped over the wound beneath his ribs. His face had gone gray, but his eyes remained fixed on the widening seam. "Those are the market's teeth."

Lin Lan pushed herself upright. Pain flashed through her knee and up her spine. The cut along her palm had reopened, warm blood sliding over her fingers, but she closed her hand before anyone could reach for her.

The silver fire above the archive shelves burned without heat. Hundreds of sealed boxes trembled beneath it. Their labels had been scratched away years ago, yet Lin could hear them now—