Chapter 8 · The Tower Starts Counting

Mara's knuckles are still burning from hitting Elias when the archive floor cracks open.

Not a slow break. Not a warning tremor. The stone splits down the middle like someone drove a blade through it, and the ledgers start falling into the gap, pages tearing loose and spinning into the dark.

"Move!" Julian shouts, grabbing her wrist and yanking her back.

The gray-coat executioner doesn't move. She's standing on the other side of the crack, staring at Elias like he just spat in her face. "You can't shield her forever, Voss. That oath you just invoked expires at dawn."

"Then I'll renew it at dawn," Elias says. His voice is calm. Too calm. Like he's playing a game and already knows the last move.

Mara jerks her wrist free from Julian's grip. "What the hell did you do?"

Elias doesn't look at her. He's watching the crack in the floor widen, stone grinding against stone. "I told you. I'm fixing the system."

"By putting my name on a kill list?"

"By making sure you can't run.