Chapter 28 · The Gate That Remembered

"Get your hands off him!" Nora drove her elbow into the arrest officer's throat before his chain could close around Lucan's wrist.

The officer staggered. His black seal flashed under the collar of his coat.

"Nora Bell," he snapped. "By order of the council, you're under arrest for curse murder, archive theft, and—"

"Save the speech." She kicked the chain away. "You came for me. So why are six men pointing blades at him?"

Lucan stood three steps ahead of her, one hand pressed against the iron gate. His fingers were bleeding. Not from the officers. From the gate itself.

Red lines crawled up his arm and disappeared beneath his sleeve.

"Because he helped you run," the officer said. "And because Bram Calder signed both warrants."

Lucan's head jerked toward him.

"Bram signed this?" His voice had gone low.

"He signed your death order too," the officer said. "You should've read the second page before you dragged her into the lower vault."

Nora looked at Lucan. "You knew there was a second page?"

"No."

"That's not what I asked."

The gate groaned beneath his palm.

Lucan's shoulders locked.