Chapter 21 · The book listed you first

She did.

His face had lost all its sharp edges. He looked terrified now, and he wasn't hiding it.

"The book listed you first," he said. "That means it knows something about you."

"It also listed you as active."

"Then we find my name."

"And if it says you're the one who caused the disaster?"

"Then you decide whether to kill me."

"You think I'd do that?"

"You hunt debts for people who pay you to ruin lives."

"I hunt marks. I don't execute people."

"Not yet."

Ayla yanked her hand free. "You want me to be afraid of you so badly."

"I want you to understand what happens if I lose control."

"You took that hit for me."

"That doesn't make me safe."

"No," she said. "It makes you stupid."

The hatch screamed above them.

Sable shoved the ledger toward Kade. "Find your name before they break through."

Kade turned the page.

The ink stopped moving.

Ayla leaned over his shoulder.

The list ended with her name.

No second name appeared.

Kade stared at the blank space beneath it. "Where is mine?"

"Maybe it isn't here," Sable said.

"You said the book knows active vessels.