Chapter 3

Lucan looked at him.

Bram's attention snapped toward the council. "She's manipulating you. She knows how to read curse reactions. That's what makes her dangerous."

"And you know how to trigger them," I said.

The chief examiner raised his seal. "Remove her from the chamber."

The restraints tightened.

My knees hit the floor.

Lucan crouched in front of me. His coat brushed my knee. One gloved hand closed around my wrist, right over Bram's bruises. The leather was warm from his skin.

"Look at me," he said.

"I'm looking at the man who just put me on the floor."

"Look at me, Nora."

The command cut through the noise.

I met his eyes.

"Breathe in."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Fine. Stop breathing. I don't care."

"You're unbelievably charming."

"I hear that a lot."

"From people who hate you?"

"Usually."

His thumb pressed against my pulse.

The restraint seal flickered.

Lucan felt it. His gaze dropped to the red light burning under my skin.

"What did you touch before you came here?"

"Nothing."

His eyes lifted. "Try again."

"My evidence files."

"Before that."

"Bram's contract."

"What else?"

"My ring."

"Was it bleeding?"

I stared at him. "No."

"Your hand says otherwise."

"The ring cut me."

"When?"

"When I tore the contract."

Lucan's jaw tightened.

He looked over his shoulder at the ring lying near Bram's shoes.

A black thread had appeared across the gold band.

Bram saw it too. The color drained from his face.

I pushed myself up against the restraints. "What is that?"

Neither man answered.

"Bram."

He stepped toward the ring.

Lucan rose and blocked him. "Don't touch it."

"It's mine."

"Not anymore."

Bram's stare turned vicious. "You have no idea what you're interfering with."

"Then explain it."

"Ask your little suspect. She made it."

"I made the outer engagement band," I said. "I didn't add a binding thread."

"You expect us to believe that?"

"I expect you to stop hiding behind me."

The black thread pulsed.

The restraint seal answered.

Pain ripped through my hand.

I cried out and grabbed Lucan's coat. My fingers curled into the fabric at his waist. He caught me around the back before I fell, his chest hitting my shoulder, his arm locking around me through my coat.

"Easy," he said.

"Don't call me easy."

"I didn't."

"You said it like you meant it."

His breath touched my ear. "You always argue while injured?"

"You always hold women against their will?"

His grip loosened at once.

I felt the change. So did he.

For one second, neither of us moved.

Then I shoved away from him. "What is happening to my hand?"

Lucan reached inside his coat.

Bram gave a humorless laugh. "There it is."

Lucan drew out a folded sheet sealed in fresh black wax.

The chief examiner stood. "Investigator, what is that?"

"A new order."

"From whom?"

Lucan's eyes stayed on me. "The Black Seal."

Bram's smile returned, thin and ugly. "You should've brought that before the hearing."

"It wasn't issued before the hearing."

The room shifted around us.

"When was it issued?" the chief examiner demanded.

Lucan broke the wax with his thumb.

The seal gave a wet crack. "Three minutes ago."

My mouth went dry. "For who?"

Lucan unfolded the order.

Bram took one step back.

"Nora Bell," Lucan said.

The words hit harder than the restraint spell.

I stared at the paper. "You said the council hadn't ruled."

"It hasn't."

"Then why does the Black Seal have a death order?"

"Someone bypassed the council."

"Who?"

Lucan came closer. The wardens watched him. Bram watched me. The council members leaned over the table, waiting for the next piece of my destruction.

Lucan held out the order. "Take it."

I didn't move. "If I touch it, do I die faster?"

"Not immediately."

"That's a terrible answer."

"It's the honest one. Read it before Bram convinces them to drag you downstairs."

Bram cut in. "Don't touch it, Nora. Black Seal orders are binding."

"You sound worried."

"I'm warning you."

"You don't warn people. You threaten them."

"That paper will kill you."

"You already signed my death in this room. What's one more signature?"

Bram went silent.

Lucan's eyes sharpened.

I noticed. So did Bram.

"I've died once already," I said, keeping my eyes on Bram. "I won't let you sign me into the same grave twice."

For the first time, Bram looked afraid.

Lucan's attention snapped to me. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

"Nora—"

"Don't use that tone. You want answers? Stop standing between me and the man who killed me."

Bram's face twisted. "She's lost her mind."

"Maybe," I said. "But I remember your hand on the contract. I remember you promising I'd never get another chance."

The chamber fell silent.

Lucan held the order closer. "Take it."

I reached for the page.

His fingers brushed mine.

Heat snapped up my arm.

His thumb caught the side of my palm, just below the cut. He didn't let go at once.

Neither did I.

His face was close enough for me to see the small scar beside his mouth and the tension locked in his jaw.

"If you take this," he said quietly, "you lose the right to pretend you can walk away."

"From what?"

"The order. The seal. Me."

My breath stalled.

Bram stepped forward. "Nora, move away from him."

I looked at him. "Are you afraid of Lucan?"

"I'm warning you about him."

"You warned me about everyone who wouldn't kneel for you."

"He isn't what he claims."

Lucan's fingers tightened around mine. "Neither are you."

The words struck Bram silent.

I pulled the paper from Lucan's hand.

The cut on my palm opened.

Blood spilled across the order.

The black wax flared red.

Pain raced from my palm to my wrist, then up my arm.

I dropped the paper.

It didn't fall.

It stuck to my skin.

The ink shifted beneath my fingers. Letters rearranged themselves in wet black strokes.

My name appeared first.

NORA BELL.

Then a second line burned into the page.

AUTHORIZATION: NORA BELL.

I stared at it. "That's not my signature."

Lucan caught my wrist. "Don't pull away."

"It is my signature."

"Nora, listen to me."

"I didn't sign this."

"I know."

"Then why is it answering to me?"

The Black Seal spread beneath my skin.

Thin black veins crawled over my palm and climbed toward my elbow.

The room filled with shouts.

Bram whispered, "No."

I looked at him. "You know what this is."

He backed into the council table.

"Bram."

Lucan stepped between us, but I caught his coat with my free hand. "Move."

"Not yet."

"He knows why my signature is on that order."

"If you accuse him now, he'll use the seal to finish the order."

"And if I do nothing?"

"It finishes itself."

The black lines reached the inside of my elbow.

The death order tightened against my palm like it had fingers.

At the bottom of the page, another line began to appear.

Lucan saw it first.

His face changed.

Not fear. Something worse.

Recognition.

"What does it say?" I demanded.

He didn't answer.

"Lucan. What does it say?"

Bram shoved away from the table. "Don't let her read it."

I twisted my hand toward me.

The ink finished forming one word.

WITNESS:

A blank space waited beneath it.

Then the paper dragged Lucan's hand down toward the page.

His fingers jerked.

"Stop fighting it," Bram said, his voice shaking. "It'll tear through your arm."

Lucan's hand touched the blood-soaked paper.

I grabbed his sleeve. "What are you witnessing?"

His eyes met mine. "Your death."

The order began writing for him.

One black stroke. Then another.

The first three letters appeared beneath WITNESS:

LUC—