Chapter 27 · Bought Oath

"You’re shaking, Silas. Pathetic, really."

The Auditor didn't even look up. He just kept flipping pages of the ledger, the parchment snapping with a slow, rhythmicness that grated on my nerves. I was pinned against the cold stone of the inner gate, my wrists locked in iron that smelled like old blood and rust.

"Let her go," I spat. Copper taste in my mouth. "You have the book. You have the power. What else do you want?"

"Want?" The Auditor finally looked at me. His eyes were dead coins. "I don't 'want,' Silas. I audit. And right now, your account is screaming in the red. Kaela Vance is a Void Asset. She doesn't belong to you. She belongs to the Executioner."

I lunged. The chains rattled, screaming against the stone. "I'll pay. Whatever it takes. Name the price."

He chuckled. Dry. Like sandpaper. "Price? You've got nothing. No house, no name, not even the full Ledger. You're just a ghost in a fancy coat."

"I still have memories," I snapped. "The trade-lines. I can give you the sequence for the Southern Vaults."

That stopped him. His finger hovered over a line of ink. "The Southern Vaults? That’s high-tier. Rare. Valuable."