Chapter 19 · Price Due

"Don't you fucking sign it, Silas!"

Kaela’s hand slammed onto mine. The Ledger beneath us didn't just burn—it screamed.

My palm was glued to the page. Blood leaked from the cut, sliding straight into the ink like the book was drinking me alive. Her debt-contract was half-written in my blood already.

*Holder: Silas Quinn.*

The last line was still blank. Still hungry.

"Let go!" I snarled at the book. It didn't budge.

"Oh, let him finish," Varric spat from the floor. He was cradling a twisted wrist, grinning through the blood on his lip. "Please. Let the boy play hero."

Joren stepped between us, his shoulder blocking Varric from Kaela's sight. "Don't listen to him. Silas, pull your hand back. Now."

"I can't," I snapped. My fingers were locked. The Ledger's cover felt like skin. Too warm. Too human. "It's pulling me in."

Kaela dropped to her knees beside me. Her blade was still wet with her own blood from the throat-line Varric had carved into her. She wasn't looking at me. She was staring at the page. At my name drying in crimson right next to hers.

"You don't know what that is," she whispered, her voice shaking.