Chapter 9 · Lights Out

"Pay up, little landlord," the Auditor hissed. His voice sounded like wet gravel grinding together. "The tax is due. Life for land. Fair trade, wouldn't you say?"

I couldn't answer. My heels were dangling two inches off the cobblestones. The Auditor's grip on my throat tightened, and the air didn't just leave my lungs—it felt like a vacuum was sucking it out. I clawed at the gray, smoke-like wrist, but my fingers slid through him like frozen fog.

"Let him go!"

Kaela's scream ripped through the air. I heard the screech of steel—her blade cutting the wind—followed by a dull thud. The Auditor didn't even flinch. He didn't even look at her. He just leaned in closer, the smell of old parchment and rotting lilies filling my nose.

"The Ledger doesn't care about swords, girl," the creature whispered. "It cares about the balance. And right now, Silas Quinn is bankrupt."

My vision blurred. The edges of the world frayed into static. A soul-deep chill seeped into my chest, telling me I was seconds away from becoming a permanent part of Black-Silt Row. My hand, trembling and numb, fumbled for the book in my coat.

*Buy. Sell.