Chapter 38 · She Died Twice

The old seal lay in Kieran’s palm like a piece of frozen midnight.

Eve stared at it. Her name—her other name—had been cut into the metal in a narrow, precise hand.

EVE VALE.

Beneath it, a date glimmered beneath the black dust.

TOMORROW.

The vault corridor shuddered. Somewhere behind the stone, the living core clock gave a single, wet tick.

Kieran closed his fingers around the seal.

“Commander,” he said.

The word struck harder than any blade.

Eve snatched the seal from him. “Don’t call me that.”

His expression barely moved, but his shoulders locked into the posture of a soldier awaiting punishment. “You gave the order.”

“I know what I gave.”

“No.” His voice was quiet. That made it worse. “You know what you remember giving.”

Sora pressed one hand against the bleeding cut along her ribs and looked down the corridor. Blue clockfire crawled over the walls, illuminating the Assembly hunters as they spilled through the broken arch behind them. Their masks were made of polished brass, their rifles threaded with silver gears.

“Wonderful,” she whispered. “You can argue about your shared murder history after we stop being shot.