Chapter 20 · I'm trying

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

His nostrils flared. His free hand came up, and for one terrible second I thought he'd grab me.

Instead, he seized his own wrist.

His fingers dug into the skin until blood welled beneath his nails. The blade dropped half an inch.

"See?" I said, backing toward the wall. "You can fight it."

"Not for long."

"Long enough."

"Lia, what are you doing?"

"Copying the command."

I turned back to the wall.

The symbols shifted faster now. The oath knew what I wanted. It tried to bury the order beneath layers of false text—dates, names, payment codes, old protection contracts. I dragged my bleeding palm across the glass.

The surface opened under my hand.

Lines of raw command spilled into my mind.

Not words on a page. Voices. Signatures. A dozen orders stacked on top of each other. The city disasters. The collapsed bridges. The dead neighborhoods marked as acceptable loss.

My sister's name flashed through the mess.

I sucked in a breath.

"Lia?" Noah called. "What do you see?"

"Your sister's here."

He went quiet.