Chapter 18 · The Debt He Owes

"Put the map down, Mara." Calder caught her wrist before her fingers touched the glowing route.

"Take your hand off me."

"Not happening."

His grip tightened. The bond around their wrists flashed hot, throwing red light across the ruined room. Mara's boots slid over broken stone as the floor groaned beneath them.

"You dragged me into this vault," she snapped. "You chained me to a stolen city seal, and now you're ordering me around?"

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"You keep saying that like it makes you noble."

"It makes me right. Move."

He pulled her back just as a slab of ceiling crashed down where she had been standing. Dust punched through the air. Mara coughed, then shoved both hands into Calder's chest.

He barely moved.

Of course he didn't. Calder Rook had the irritating habit of looking strongest when the building tried to kill him. His black coat was torn at the shoulder, blood ran along his jaw, and his eyes stayed fixed on her like she was the only problem in the room.

"You almost got me crushed," she said.

"I stopped you from touching the route."

"Same difference."

"No. Not even close.