"Why? Does it hurt?"
"No. It reminds me I was stupid enough to trust the wrong people."
The shaft ended beneath a maintenance grate. Calder pushed it open and hauled himself into an abandoned workshop. He turned and reached for her.
Mara ignored the hand.
The chain punished her immediately.
Red light snapped between them. Her arm jerked forward, and she pitched off the ladder. Calder caught her against his chest before she hit the floor.
For one sharp second, she was pressed to him, cheek against the rough fabric of his shirt, his heartbeat beating beneath her palm.
"I had you," he said.
"You caught me. There's a difference."
"You can explain it while standing."
"Let go."
"Say please."
Mara drove two fingers into the pressure point beneath his jaw.
Calder's grip broke. She landed on her feet and shoved him back. He hit the workbench, but instead of fighting, he lifted both hands.
"There she is," he said. "The famous Mara Voss."
"You know too much about me."
"Your trial was public."
"My trial was staged."
The words left her before she could stop them.
Calder's expression changed. No grin. No lazy amusement.
"You believe that?"
"I know it."
"Then why are you running from the guard instead of proving it?"
"Because the people who changed the verdict still control the city."
"And you thought arresting me would fix that?"
"I thought your stolen map might lead me to the person who hired you."
He went still.
Mara saw it. The tiny pause. The guarded look toward the inside pocket of his coat.
"You have a map," she said.
"I have many things."
"Hand it over."
"No."
She stepped closer and raised the broken edge of a metal tool to his throat.
Calder didn't move. His eyes stayed on hers. He was close enough that she could feel the heat of him, close enough to see the faint scar cutting through his left eyebrow.
"You really think a piece of metal scares me?" he asked.
"No. I think the chain does."
She tugged her bound wrist.
The magic tightened around both of them.
Calder's breath caught.
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
"If you pull hard enough, the seal may decide one of us is excess weight."
"Which one?"
"The one it doesn't need."
Mara held the tool steady. "Then give me the map."
"You're threatening to kill us both for paperwork?"
"It's not paperwork. It's proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That I wasn't wrong."
The workshop door shook under a heavy impact.
Calder glanced toward it. "We have maybe thirty seconds."
"You said you had an escape route."
"I do."
"Then move."
"Not without the seal."
Mara looked at the metal disk lying between them. Its surface had gone dark except for a thin red mark pulsing like a heartbeat.
"You brought it here to hide it."
"I brought it here to keep the guard from opening it."
"Opening what?"
"The seal isn't a weapon, Mara. It's a lock."
Another impact struck the door. Dust fell from the ceiling.
Mara pressed the tool harder beneath his jaw. "What's behind it?"
Calder leaned in, so close his lips nearly brushed her ear.
"The thing your old bosses are terrified you'll find."
Her pulse kicked.
Not from fear. Not only from fear.
"That answer gets you arrested twice."
"Then arrest me after we survive."
The door splintered.
Calder grabbed the seal. Mara reached for it at the same instant. Their hands closed over the disk together.
The magic erupted.
The chain tore tight between their wrists and flung them into opposite walls.
Mara's shoulder struck first. Calder hit the far side hard enough to crack the plaster. The distance between them stretched by one step.
Her bones screamed.
"Calder!"
He shoved away from the wall. "Come here!"
"You come here!"
"Mara, now!"
The chain pulled again.
She ran.
He ran too.
They collided in the center of the workshop just as the door burst open. Calder wrapped one arm around her back. Mara seized the front of his coat. Their bodies locked together, breath mixing, the seal trapped between their chests.
The pain stopped.
For half a second, neither of them moved.
His gaze dropped to her mouth.
Mara's fingers tightened against his coat.
"Don't," she whispered.
"I wasn't—"
"You were."
"You noticed."
"I notice threats."
"Then notice the guards."
She shoved him aside and slammed her palm against the nearest rune-burner. The weapon collapsed into sparks. Calder swept the guard's legs out from under him, caught the falling seal, and pulled Mara through a side door.
They burst into a narrow alley behind the workshop. Three guards spilled out after them. Calder grabbed Mara's hand and ran.
"Let go," she said.
"No."
"I can run without you."
"We tried that. The chain nearly broke your arm."
"You sound worried."
"I'm worried about my arm. It appears attached to you now."
He dragged her around a corner and shoved open a gate. They slipped into a cramped storage room. Calder kicked the gate shut and dropped the bar into place.
Mara hit him against it.
"Map. Now."
"You have a strange way of asking."
"You have a strange way of staying alive."
He pulled a folded strip of black paper from his coat but kept it between two fingers.
"You get the map when you tell me why the guard wants you dead too."
"They want the seal."
"They called you by name."
"I'm memorable."
"You made one guard kneel without touching him."
"That was a misunderstanding."
"You knew the old tunnels. You knew the seal would bind us. You knew my name before I gave it."
Calder's eyes sharpened.
"You left out one detail."
"Which one?"
"You dismantled a live arrest rune with your bare hand."
Mara stepped closer. "Give me the map."
He held it out.
She reached.
He caught her wrist instead.
His thumb pressed against her pulse. The touch was careful, almost gentle, which made it worse. Mara looked from his hand to his face.
"Let go."
"Tell me if you can break the chain."
"I can break anything."
"Can you?"
"Yes."
"Then why is it still there?"
Mara tried to pull free. The chain flashed. Pain snapped through her shoulder and Calder's hand tightened around hers.
"Because I haven't found the right seam," she said.
"Find it fast."
"You sound scared."
"I sound practical."
"You're hiding something."
"So are you."
A red symbol appeared on the seal.
Mara stared at it.
Three numbers burned across the metal.
72:00:00.
The numbers began to move.
Calder's grip went still.
"What is that?" Mara asked.
He didn't answer.
She yanked the seal from his hand and held it between them. The red chain pulsed once, hard enough to make both their wrists jerk together.
"Calder. What is that?"
His face lost every trace of humor.
"A countdown."
"To what?"
"To the bond deciding we're too far apart."
"And then?"
He looked at the chain around their wrists.
"Then one of us breaks first."
Mara raised the metal tool beneath his chin again. Calder didn't stop her. Outside the barred gate, boots pounded closer.
The timer dropped to 71:59:58.
"Start talking," she said.
Calder's eyes locked on hers. "If I tell you why the seal chose you, you'll never put me in cuffs."
"Try me."
He leaned toward her, the chain pulling their wrists together, his voice dropping to a rough whisper.
"Mara, the seal didn't choose us because we touched it. It chose us because—"
The gate exploded inward.
A black-armored figure stood in the opening with a crossbow raised straight at Calder's chest.
Mara spun, blade lifting as Calder shoved her behind him.
The figure pulled the string back one final inch.
"Step away from Rook," the stranger said, "or I fire."
Calder's hand closed around Mara's wrist. The countdown burned brighter between them.
Mara brought her palm up, magic gathering under her skin, and said, "Try it, and I'll—"