Chapter 3

"What the hell is that thing?!" I screamed.

"A corpse-shambler," Dax snapped. He didn't look back. He just kept dragging me, his grip like a steel cuff. "And if you keep screaming, you're just ringing the dinner bell for the rest of the swarm."

I yanked my arm. "Let go! I can run faster on my own!"

"You can't even stand straight, Vance."

He spun me around, slamming my back against a damp concrete pillar. The air left my lungs in a sharp hiss. He was too close. I could smell the cold metallic scent of his coat and the sharp, ozone tang of his judge’s ring. His eyes were flint, scanning the alley before locking onto mine.

"You signed the contract," he breathed, his voice a low warning. "Your life belongs to me until I say otherwise. Try to run again, and I'll leave you for the shamblers."

I glared up at him, chest heaving. "You killed me. In the last loop, you actually killed me. Why the hell should I trust you now?"

Dax leaned in. His chest brushed mine, a hard, steady pressure that pinned me against the stone. He didn't flinch. "Because I'm the only thing between you and being eaten alive. Now shut up and move."

He shoved me forward just as a shriek ripped through the alley. Three more of them emerged from the shadows—gaunt, gray things with jaws that hung open like broken traps. They didn't breathe; they hissed like leaking pipes.

I reached for the silver heart in my jacket. The moment my fingers touched the cold metal, a jolt shot up my arm. The heart didn't just glow—it pulsed. A visceral, deep red. A heartbeat.

"Dax!"

"Get behind me!" He reached for the heavy blade at his hip.

Too late. One of the things leaped—a blur of gray skin and jagged claws. It didn't go for me. It slammed into Dax, claws tearing through his leather coat and sinking deep into his side.

I gasped. Dax didn't scream. He grunted, face twisting in rage, jammed an elbow into the creature's throat, and sheared its head off in one brutal motion.

Black, oily blood sprayed across his cheek. He staggered, breath hitching, but his grip on my wrist only tightened.

"You're bleeding," I whispered, staring at the dark stain spreading across his ribs.

"I've had worse," he spat. He leaned against the pillar, knuckles white. "The heart... why is it reacting?"

I pulled it out. It was vibrating, the red light intensifying. "I don't know. It's like it's searching for something."

"Or someone," Dax muttered. He looked at me, and for a split second, the coldness flickered. Not pity—something sharper. Recognition. "The contract binds us, Mara. If I go down, the link might drag you with me. Don't you dare let go."

"I hate you," I snapped, stepping closer to brace his weight. "I absolutely hate you."

"Get in line," he smirked, then winced.

We scrambled deeper into the slums, weaving through a labyrinth of rotting wood and hanging laundry. The air grew thick with the smell of wet earth and old copper.

Then, a sharp whistle.

Figures dropped from the rooftops—dark cloaks, glowing goggles. The Underground Market's enforcers.

"Well, well," a woman’s voice purred. "The Chief Judge and his little stray. I thought you were better at hiding your toys, Dax."

Evelyn Thorne landed softly, her gaze skipping over me to lock onto the silver heart in my hand. Her smile was velvet over glass.

"The deal was simple, Calder," Evelyn said, stepping closer. "You find the key, I provide the exit. Keeping it for yourself? That's a breach of etiquette."

Dax shifted, stepping in front of me. He was bleeding, but he still blocked her path, shielding me. "The key is unstable, Evelyn. She's not ready for transport."

"She looks plenty ready to me," Evelyn countered, her eyes finally sliding to me. "And she looks terrified. Why not let her come with me? I'll treat her better than a man who kills her every time the clock resets."

I froze. The betrayal tasted like ash. She knew.

"She stays," Dax growled.

"Is that so?" Evelyn’s smile vanished. She raised a hand, and four enforcers stepped forward, weapons humming with energy. "Then I'll just take the heart and leave the girl to the shamblers. I'm sure they're still hungry."

Suddenly, the silver heart erupted. A searing heat burned through my glove. I cried out, clutching it to my chest.

"Mara!"

I couldn't answer. A voice was screaming in my head—not mine, but a thousand overlapping echoes of death. Then, the heart flashed a blinding, brilliant white.

As the light faded, a name materialized in the air in shimmering, ghostly ink:

*Evelyn Thorne.*

"It knows you," I gasped.

Evelyn went pale. "Impossible. That heart should be dormant."

Before she could move, a searing pain ripped through my forearm. I screamed. A second red mark—a jagged, burning line—was carving itself into my skin next to the first. A brand. A countdown.

"What is this?" I yelled. "Dax, what is this?!"

Dax grabbed my arm, his expression shifting from control to genuine alarm.

"It's not a contract anymore," he whispered. "It's a summons."

"A summons for what?"

He didn't answer. He looked up as the great city bell began to toll. But it wasn't a chime. It was a crack—the sound of the world breaking.

"The vault," Dax gripped my wrist tight. "The vault is opening, and it's calling for its key."

A piece of parchment fluttered down from the roof, landing at my feet. I picked it up. It was a bounty notice. My face stared back at me, sketched in brutal detail.

But the reward wasn't gold.

*Reward: The memory of the first death.*

I looked at Dax, my heart hammering. "Who the hell put me on a list?"

He didn't answer. He was staring at the second mark on my arm. It had started to bleed.