Chapter 14 · The Guilty List

"Give me the badge," Kael said.

Sloane pressed the muzzle of her pistol under his jaw. "Try asking like you want to keep your teeth."

"Fine. Hand over the badge before the guards come back."

"Better. Still not happening."

The metal edge dug into his skin. Kael kept his hands raised, but his eyes stayed on the black iron badge clipped to her coat. It carried the Inquisitor seal, three interlocking teeth around a red glass center.

The badge was their way into the Archive.

It was also the only thing keeping Sloane from being recognized as a traitor the second they crossed the inner gate.

"We have four minutes," Kael said. "Maybe three. Your people are searching the lower platforms."

"My people are searching for you."

"They’re searching for a wanted gear thief with a resonance mark burning through his neck. That’s me, in case the gun distracted you."

Her eyes dropped for half a second.

The mark at the base of his neck still felt cold enough to split bone. Every breath pulled a sharp line of pain across his skin. Sloane felt it too. He knew because her fingers had tightened around the pistol when it started.