Chapter 37 · The Cost of Saying It

"Don't read the next line." Adrian's hand slipped from the vault door and closed around my wrist.

The metal groaned above us.

Dust rained over his hair and shoulders. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, bright against his skin. One knee stayed braced against the collapsing frame, keeping the door from crushing us both.

I looked down at the open ledger.

The first page showed my mother's face in a grainy memory imprint. Her eyes were tired. Her voice shook, but every word landed clean.

"I, Elian Voss, name Marlow Thane as the man who ordered the witness rewrites. He used the Tribunal's oath seal to alter testimony, erase names, and bury—"

Adrian yanked the ledger toward himself.

"Mara. Stop."

"You don't get to touch that."

"I just did."

"Move your hand."

His fingers tightened around my wrist. Not enough to bruise. Enough to remind me he could drag me away if he chose.

That was Adrian Rook. Half-burned by the memory field. Bleeding through his collar. Still acting like every room belonged to him.

I jerked against his grip.

"You let me give the ledger your name. You let it strip your identity out of you.