Chapter 22 · Steal Her Sister Back

"Let go, Silas—you're fucking killing yourself!"

Kaela's nails dug into my wrist. Her blade slipped deeper into my throat. Blood ran hot down my neck, but the Ledger in my palm burned colder. Gold light chewed into my skin, eating me alive.

"Then let it," I choked out. "Let it take it."

"No!" She shook me, hard. Her eyes were wet, furious, inches from mine. "You don't get to pay for me. You don't get to be noble. Drop the book!"

"Not a chance."

My voice was a wreck. The pages flipped on their own, the god-damn script writing itself in light.

*TEN YEARS. DEBT TRANSFER: KAELA VANCE — ACCEPTED.*

"You want your sister back?" I gasped. "This is how we buy her."

"By dying?" Her knife trembled. The tip carved another thin line into my skin. She flinched like she was the one bleeding. "Silas, stop. Please. I didn't ask for this."

"You didn't have to." I grabbed her knife hand with my free one, pinning the steel against my own throat. "You think I care what Varric wrote in your contract? You killed for her when you were seventeen. You think that makes you dirty?