Chapter 14 · The Wound Between Us

The contract blade came out of nowhere.

One second Julian was pulling himself off the archive floor, gasping like a man who'd just learned what drowning felt like. The next second something silver flashed through the red light pouring off the walls and he went down hard, blood spreading dark across his shirt.

Mara felt it before she saw it.

Pain. Sharp and cold, punching through her ribs on the left side like someone had shoved ice straight into her lung. She sucked in air that wouldn't come and her knees hit stone. The memory key clattered out of her hand. Her brother's voice cut off mid-warning.

She looked down.

No blade. No blood on her shirt. But the pain was there, real and spreading, and when she pressed her hand to her side she could feel her own heartbeat stuttering under her palm.

"Mara—" Julian's voice came out strangled. He was on his back ten feet away, one hand clamped over the same spot on his ribs, red seeping between his fingers. His face had gone white. "Don't move. Don't—"

Another blade came through the doorway.

Mara rolled.