Chapter 22 · Nia's Name on the Page

Mara had one hand on the vault key and the other around a knife when Elias placed Nia's name on the contract page.

The old courtroom had gone dead quiet. Even the chains around Julian's wrists had stopped rattling.

Elias tapped the page with one clean fingernail. 'You open the council vault at dawn, Mara. Or Nia pulls the lever.'

Nia sat beneath the judges' bench with both hands locked around the brass handle. Her fingers were white. Her face looked gray under the blue contract-light crawling over her skin.

Mara stared at her friend. 'Nia. Look at me.'

Nia's eyes moved. Slow. Shaky. She found Mara's face for half a second, then the blue lines tightened around her throat.

Her hand jerked down.

Julian lunged against his cuffs. 'Stop her!'

The lever dropped one inch with a hard metal click.

Mara threw the knife.

It struck the mechanism beside Nia's hand. Sparks burst across the floor. The lever snapped back up, but Nia screamed like the blade had gone through her palm.

Elias didn't even blink. 'Do that again and the next command won't stop at one inch.'

Mara's breath came fast. The knife lay smoking near Nia's knee.