Chapter 16 · I needed you

She yanked her hand free. "Don't make it sound noble. You made the bond because you needed my curse-reading ability."

"I needed you."

She froze.

Lucan seemed to realize what he had said. His face closed again, but the damage was done.

Nora pushed past him into the chamber.

"Try not to sound desperate," she said. "It makes you look human."

"That would ruin my reputation."

"You have a reputation? I thought you just threatened people until they handed you files."

"It works."

"Not on me."

"That's the problem."

The chamber was round, cut deep beneath the Black Seal headquarters. Three iron pillars held a black glass basin in the center. A pale flame burned inside it without moving.

The curse core sat beneath the flame.

It was smaller than Nora expected. A fist-sized piece of dark crystal, split through the middle by a thin red line. The light inside it pulsed like a heartbeat.

Her own heartbeat answered.

She stopped two steps away.

"It's awake," she said.

"It has been waiting."

"For me?"

"For a curse examiner with enough blood left to bargain."

Nora looked at him. "That was almost comforting.