Chapter 5 · Three Days to Break Us

"Tell me how to take the lock off before it takes me."

Kade had one hand around Ayla's wrist and the other braced beside her head. The train slammed through a turn, throwing his shoulder into the metal wall. His face ended up inches from hers.

His breath hit her cheek. Hot. Uneven. His pupils had gone almost silver.

Ayla kept her chin up. "Let go."

"No."

"That wasn't a request."

"Good. We understand each other."

The carriage shuddered beneath them. A red warning strip blinked over the sealed door. Somewhere behind the walls, something heavy knocked three times.

Kade's grip tightened.

Ayla stared at his fingers around her wrist. "You have five seconds to move that hand."

"You have three days to break this pact."

"I know how long I have. I was there when I carved the first line."

"Then you know what happens if you fail."

"Your heart-core tears loose. The city loses power. Thousands of people die." She smiled without warmth. "And I still collect your bounty if you're alive when I deliver you."

His jaw flexed.

There it was. The crack.

Kade wasn't afraid of dying. He was afraid of being taken alive.

Ayla twisted her wrist, trying to break his hold. He caught the motion, turned her arm, and pinned it above her head. His coat scraped against her sleeve. The contact was brief, but his heat stayed on her skin.

"You can keep threatening me," he said, lowering his voice, "or you can answer one question. Who sent you?"

"The city pays me."

"Which family?"

"The one with enough money to buy your name off every wanted board in the district."

"That isn't an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

His gaze dropped to the glowing mark beneath her collarbone. It pulsed once, matching the ugly rhythm beating under his ribs.

Ayla saw him notice.

She also saw the pain hit him.

Kade's breath caught. His grip went slack for half a second.

Ayla drove her knee into his thigh and shoved him away.

He hit the opposite bench hard enough to crack the old vinyl. The silver in his eyes flashed brighter. A thin line of black light crawled from his neck toward his jaw.

"Damn it," he hissed.

Ayla reached for the debt-mark on her palm. Soul marks usually showed as ink, scars, or stains. Kade's was none of those. His mark moved beneath his skin like a living wire, feeding straight into the forbidden core buried in his chest.

She had seen soul-debts eat men before.

Never this fast.

Kade pressed his fist over his heart. "Don't look at it."

"That's a stupid thing to say to a debt hunter."

"I'm serious."

"So am I. Hold still."

"Stay away from me."

"You want to keep breathing?"

"I want you off this train."

"Cute. You can want things after I stop you from exploding."

He pushed off the bench. His boots slid on the metal floor as the train bucked again. He made it two steps before his knees dipped.

Ayla caught his coat and slammed him back against the wall.

"Don't make me drag you," she said.

Kade's hand closed around her forearm. Even shaking, he had enough strength to stop her from reaching his chest.

"Take this debt," he said, "and the whole city dies with me."

The words came out rough. Not a threat. A warning.

Ayla looked at his face. Sweat stood along his hairline. His mouth had gone pale. Under his shirt, the core beat once, hard enough to lift the fabric.

The carriage lights dimmed.

Ayla's stomach tightened. "How long?"

"For what?"

"Before it breaks loose."

"You tell me. You're the expert."

"Kade."

His eyes snapped back to hers.

The name landed between them.

She had learned it from the wanted file. Kade Rook. Fugitive. Energy vessel. Suspected cause of the Grayfall disaster. A bounty big enough to clear her brother's debt and buy her family a legal identity.

She had never said it to him before.

His fingers loosened around her arm.

"You know my name," he said.

"I know the name printed on your bounty notice."

"That's not what I asked."

"You're not in a position to ask much."

He leaned closer. His breath brushed her temple. "You said my name like you meant it."

"Don't get sentimental. You'll ruin the mood."

A weak laugh escaped him. It turned into a cough. He bent forward, one hand gripping the edge of the bench.

A pulse of blue-black light burst under his ribs.

The train groaned.

Ayla felt the mark on her palm burn.

"Get your hand off me," he said.

"No."

"Ayla—"

She froze.

He had never heard her name from her mouth. She hadn't told him. Not on the platform. Not when she pulled him away from the city guards. Not when she forced the heartlock pact between them.

His fingers tightened around her wrist again, but not to restrain her this time. He held on like she was the only solid thing left.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

Kade's expression shifted. Confusion first. Then pain. Then something close to panic.

"I don't."

"You just said it."

"I know what I said."

"Try again."

"I can't."

"You can, or I leave you right here."

His eyes sharpened. "You won't."

"Why not?"

"Because if I die, you don't get paid."

"Wrong. The bounty has a death clause. Smaller, but still useful."

That hit him harder than the train.

Kade released her wrist and stepped back. The black line on his neck spread toward his collarbone.

"You'd let me die for a smaller payout?"

"I hunt debts, not heroes."

"You don't even know what I am."

"I know what your mark says. I know the company wants you contained. I know three armed teams boarded this train to collect you." She pointed at his chest. "And I know that thing inside you is trying to use me as a door."

The sealed carriage door behind them flashed red again.

Ayla heard boots strike the roof.

Kade heard them too.

"They're here," he said.

"I noticed."

"Open the lock."

"You first. Tell me what happened in Grayfall."

His face went still.

There. Another crack.

"I don't remember."

"Convenient."

"You think I erased a district and forgot to feel bad about it?"

"I think rich people pay well for clean stories."

"Then ask your employers why they buried the bodies."

Ayla's fingers twitched.

Kade saw it. "You don't know, do you?"

"I know enough."

"No, you know what they gave you. A file. A picture. A number. They called me a vessel because it sounds safer than prisoner."

"You are a prisoner."

"So are you."

The roof above them buckled inward.

Ayla drew the short blade from her boot. Kade grabbed her elbow before she could move toward the door.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting the people hunting us off this train."

"You can't fight them while the core is open."

"Then keep it shut."

"I can't."

"You can."

"Not without you."

Ayla stared at him.

The admission cost him. She saw it in the way his mouth tightened and the way he refused to look at her mark.

"Say that again," she said.

"Don't enjoy this."

"I'm enjoying your lack of options. There's a difference."

"Your will is tied to the lock. When you panic, the core feeds. When you fight the bond, it pulls harder."

"So the answer is what? I stand here and let you control me?"

"The answer is you stop pretending you don't feel it."

Ayla shoved him away. "Careful."

"You feel every pulse. Every spike. You know exactly when it's about to break."

"I know enough to cut it out of you."

"Then do it."