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"Put it on the table, Tessa. Slowly."
The knife at her throat pressed harder when she reached for the black metal disk.
Tessa smiled without showing her teeth. "You said no weapons."
"I said no weapons pointed at me."
"Your man is pointing a crossbow at my spine. That feels pretty pointed."
Across the cramped vault, Merrick tightened his grip. The bolt's silver tip hovered between her shoulder blades. One twitch, and it would punch through bone.
Tessa kept two fingers on the disk.
It was warm.
That was the problem.
Forbidden seals were supposed to be dead things. Cold metal. Etched symbols. Easy to wrap, easy to sell, easy to forget once the buyer paid.
This one had a pulse.
Not hers.
A faint thump beat beneath the black surface.
The buyer leaned close enough for his breath to crawl over her ear. "You stole from a Council vault. You lied about what you found. Now you want to renegotiate?"
"I want the rest of my money."
"You want to survive the next ten seconds."
"That too."
Merrick snorted. "She thinks she's funny."
"No," Tessa said. "I think you two are idiots. There is a difference."
The knife nicked her skin.
A hot line of pain ran beneath her jaw. Tessa's fingers tightened around the seal.
The disk pulsed again.
The buyer's eyes dropped to it. His confidence cracked for half a second.
There.
He knew what it was.
Tessa drove her heel down on his boot.
He cursed and jerked back. She twisted under the knife, slammed her elbow into his ribs, and threw the seal at the nearest wall.
It struck stone.
The vault screamed.
Black light burst across the room in jagged lines. The crossbow fired. Its silver bolt vanished into the crack before it could hit her.
Merrick stared. "What the hell—"
Tessa grabbed his wrist and pulled.
The rift opened under his feet.
He dropped with one shout, vanishing into a strip of red light. His crossbow clattered onto the floor.
The buyer recovered fast. He caught Tessa by the back of her coat and yanked her against his chest. The knife returned to her throat.
"You just opened a live rift," he hissed. "Do you know what that thing is?"
"A very bad investment?"
"It is a living seal."
The disk skittered across the floor and stopped beside Tessa's boot.
It pulsed once.
The buyer shoved her away and lunged for it.
Tessa moved first.
She kicked the seal beneath a metal shelf, then threw herself toward the vault door. Her hand hit the lock. The old mechanism clicked, but it did not open.
Of course it didn't.
The buyer had locked them in before starting the interrogation.
He turned, knife low at his side. "You aren't leaving."
"You keep saying that like it makes it true."
"Your family owes the Meridian Council three hundred thousand crowns."
"My family owes a dead man who sold our house twice."
"The Council owns the debt now."
"Then send them a thank-you card."
He crossed the room.
Tessa backed into the stone wall. The sealed vault gave her nowhere to run. Cold rock pressed through her coat. The buyer's knife rose toward her ribs.
A new voice came from the other side of the door.
"Step away from her."
The buyer froze.
Tessa did not. She drove her knee upward.
He caught her leg before it landed.
The door exploded inward.
A man in a dark Warden coat stepped through the smoke and falling hinges. He was tall, broad through the shoulders, and completely calm. A narrow blade rested in his right hand. Blue rift-light crawled along its edge.
The buyer dragged Tessa against him and locked an arm around her neck.
"One more step," he snapped, "and she gets cut."
The newcomer looked at Tessa first.
Not the knife.
Her.
His eyes were gray and sharp enough to make her skin tighten. A thin scar cut through his left eyebrow. There was blood on one cuff, but none of it seemed to be his.
"Tessa Quill," he said.
Her stomach dropped.
"People usually buy me dinner before they use my full name."
"People usually don't steal restricted relics."
"Then your social circle needs work."
The man moved.
Tessa barely saw it. One second the buyer had her trapped. The next, the stranger's hand closed around the buyer's wrist. Metal struck bone. The knife clattered away.
The buyer swore and shoved Tessa forward.
The stranger caught her instead.
His palm locked around her waist. His other hand braced against the wall beside her head. Tessa hit solid muscle, hard enough to knock the air from her lungs.
His coat smelled like smoke, steel, and something clean underneath. His breath brushed her temple.
"Don't move," he said.
"You first."
His gaze dropped to her mouth for one quick, dangerous second.
Then he looked over her shoulder.
The buyer had drawn a second blade.
"Warden Vale," the buyer said. "This doesn't concern you."
"You are inside a restricted vault with a live seal and a Council fugitive. It concerns me a lot."
"She is not a fugitive."
"Not yet."
Tessa shoved at Rowan Vale's chest. His body barely shifted. The move only brought her closer, her palm flattening against the heat beneath his shirt.
He looked down at her hand.
"Touching me won't improve your position."
"I wasn't trying to improve it. I was trying to get out of it."
"Same problem."
The buyer took one step forward. "Give me the seal, Warden. The Council wants it intact."
Tessa felt Rowan's attention sharpen.
"The Council sent you?"
"They sent no one."
"Bad answer."
Rowan pushed Tessa behind him and drew a second blade from his belt.
The buyer rushed him.
Steel flashed twice. Rowan turned the first strike, blocked the second, and drove his elbow into the buyer's throat. The man staggered. Rowan caught his coat, spun him, and slammed him into the wall.
Stone cracked.
The buyer's knife fell again.
"Who paid you?" Rowan asked.
The man clawed at Rowan's wrist. "Go to hell."
"Already been. It was louder."
Rowan pressed the glowing blade beneath the man's chin. The blue edge lit both their faces.
Tessa glanced toward the shelf.
The seal was gone.
Her pulse stumbled.
The buyer saw her look.
"She has it," he choked. "Check her hand."
Rowan's head turned.
Tessa took one step backward.
"Don't," she said.
His eyes dropped to her closed fist. "Open it."
"No."
"That wasn't a request."
"I got that. Your whole personality is built around it."
He released the buyer, who slid to the floor coughing. Rowan crossed the space between them in three long steps.
Tessa raised her hands. "Stay back."
"You are holding a relic that can split this district open."
"Then maybe don't stand so close."
"Give me the seal."
"I have a buyer waiting."
"Your buyer is bleeding on the floor."
"He can wait too."
Rowan stopped inches away.
The vault suddenly felt smaller. His shoulders blocked the only clear path to the door. His blade hung loose at his side, but the rift-light along it kept moving, bright and hungry.
"What did you promise the buyer?" he asked.
"Nothing."
The seal pulsed in her fist.
Pain punched through her palm.
Tessa sucked in a breath.
Rowan noticed. Of course he did.
"You're lying."
"I promised him a delivery."
"What kind?"
"The kind involving money."
"How much?"
"Enough to make you stop asking stupid questions."
The pain sharpened.
Tessa's knees nearly buckled.
Rowan caught her elbow. His fingers closed around her skin, firm and hot. She tried to pull free. He held on.
"It reacts to lies," he said.
"It reacts to you."
"You were hurting before I touched you."
"Maybe I have a complicated relationship with authority."
He took her fist and forced it open.
The black disk lay in her palm.
A thin red line had appeared across its center. It looked like a closed eye.
Then it opened.
The seal dug into her skin.
Tessa screamed and swung at Rowan with her free hand. He caught her wrist before she could hit him, turning her arm behind her back. His chest pressed to her shoulder blades. The position hurt, but not as much as the burning disk.
"Let go!"
"Stop fighting it."
"That's your advice?"
"Yes."
"You should write that on your grave."
The red line widened. Dark threads crawled from the seal into her palm.
Rowan's grip changed. He pulled her against him, one hand around her wrist, the other braced over her fingers. His mouth was close to her ear.
"Tessa. Look at me."
"I would rather bite you."
"You can try after I stop this."
"You keep saying things like that, and people might think you care."
His thumb pressed against her pulse.
For the first time, his calm slipped.
"I care whether the city survives."
"That is not what I asked."
The seal pulsed between their hands.
A shock tore through both of them.
Rowan's breath hitched. Tessa felt it against her neck. His fingers tightened around her wrist, not enough to hurt, just enough to keep her standing.
The mark flared.
A black band raced from her palm up her arm. At the same time, a matching line appeared beneath Rowan's collar, disappearing under the edge of his shirt.
He stared at it.
Tessa stared too.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"Me? You were the one manhandling me."
"You activated it."
"I was trying to sell it."
"To whom?"
"The man you almost killed."
"Name."
"I don't know his real name."
The mark burned.
Tessa bit down hard enough to taste blood.
Rowan's hand went to his chest. His jaw locked, but he did not make a sound.
The buyer laughed from the floor. "You're bound."
Rowan looked at him. "Explain."
"No."
Rowan kicked the man's knife across the room, then hauled him upright by the front of his coat.
"Explain, or I break every finger you have left."
"You'd better break hers first. The seal chooses an anchor."
Tessa's stomach twisted. "An anchor for what?"
The buyer smiled through the blood at his lip. "For the thing under Greyharbor."
Rowan's expression went flat. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"I know the Council paid double for a living seal. I know it only wakes when it touches a compatible bloodline. And I know—"
A red thread snapped from Tessa's palm.
It struck the buyer in the throat.
He convulsed once and dropped.
Tessa stared at the smoking mark on her hand. "Did I just kill him?"
"No."
"You sound disappointed."
"He'll wake up. Eventually."
"Comforting."
Rowan turned toward her. The matching mark beneath his collar had spread higher, a dark line visible against his neck. His breathing was controlled, but his fingers kept flexing at his side.
Tessa noticed.
He noticed her noticing.
"Don't start," he said.
"I haven't said anything."
"Your face did."
"Your face says you want to rip this thing off me."
"I do."
"Try it."
The words came out too fast.
Rowan stepped closer.
Tessa's back met the wall again. His hand landed beside her head. The other lifted, stopping just short of her marked palm.
"You think I'm bluffing?"
"I think you like standing too close to women who can't stab you."
His eyes narrowed. "You can stab me."
"That sounded almost like permission."
"It wasn't."
"Shame."
For one second, neither moved.
His body heat reached her through their clothes. The mark on her palm burned in time with the pulse beneath his fingers. Tessa hated that she could feel every inch between them. Hated more that he knew it too.
Rowan's gaze held hers.
"If I cut the seal out, you may die."
Tessa's mouth went dry. "You said you wanted to rip it off."
"I said I wanted to. I didn't say I'd be careless."
"That's the nicest threat I've heard all week."
"You owe the Council a fortune. You stole a relic from their vault. You opened a live rift in the middle of Greyharbor. If they catch you, they won't bother with a trial. They'll put you in a breach chamber and use your bones as a lock."
"You really know how to make a girl feel special."
"I'm giving you facts."
"You're giving me reasons to run."
"You can't run from this."
The seal pulsed.
A sharp line of pain shot through her heart.
Tessa grabbed Rowan's coat. "What was that?"
He caught her around the waist before she folded. His hand spread over her side, holding her upright. His face tightened with the same pain.
"The bond."
"What bond?"
"It links our vital signs."
"Unlink it."
"I'm working on it."
"Work faster."
"Stop lying to me."
"I am not lying."
The seal burned again.
Tessa gasped. Rowan's grip locked around her.
"You just lied," he said.
"About what?"
"You are lying now."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The pain slammed through her chest.
Rowan caught the back of her neck and pulled her forehead against his shoulder. His voice dropped beside her ear.
"The seal punishes lies. It doesn't care whether you know you're telling them."
Tessa shoved away from him, breathing hard. "So what? It reads my mind?"
"No. It listens for intent."
"That's worse."
"Much worse."
He crouched beside the fallen buyer and took a small metal token from his coat. The token showed a silver tower split by a red line.
Council intelligence.
Tessa knew the mark. Everyone in Greyharbor did.
"You said he wasn't sent by the Council," she said.
"I said the Council didn't send him officially."
"That is a very cute distinction."
Rowan stood and walked to the vault door. He pressed two fingers to the frame.
Blue light spread through the metal.
The lock shuddered, then sealed itself tighter.
Tessa blinked. "You just locked us in."
"I stopped the tracking signal."
"By trapping us?"
"The Council is already outside."
A distant bang shook dust from the ceiling.
Tessa took one step back. "How many?"
"Enough."
"That isn't a number."
"It's the only one you need."
Another bang. Closer.
Rowan faced her. "You have two choices. Come with me, or stay here and let them cut the seal out of your hand."
"And your plan is what?"
"Get us out before they breach the vault."
"Us?"
"The bond won't let us separate far enough to matter."
"How far is far enough?"
He held up a hand. "Try walking to the other side of the room."
Tessa gave him a sharp look, then moved.
One step.
Two.
The mark tightened.
Three.
A crushing pull yanked her backward. She crashed into Rowan's chest. His arms closed around her automatically, one across her ribs, the other catching her wrist.
His mouth brushed her hair as he spoke. "Less than ten feet."
"I hate this."
"Good. Hate keeps you alert."
"You say that like you invented it."
"I invented surviving it."
The vault door boomed.
A voice carried through the metal. "Tessa Quill! Step away from the Warden and surrender the seal!"
Tessa looked at Rowan. "They know my name."
"They've been tracking you."
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"You dragged me into a bond without telling me the Council was on the other side of the door?"
"The seal dragged you into the bond. I was trying to keep you alive."
"You don't get points for that."
"I wasn't asking for points."
He pulled a thin strip of black metal from his belt and pressed it against the floor. A circle of blue light opened beneath their feet.
Tessa stared down. "That is a rift."
"Yes."
"You said live rifts were unstable."
"They are."
"You said they could tear a person apart."
"They can."
"And you want us to step into it?"
"Unless you'd rather meet the Council."
The door boomed again. A crack opened across its center.
Tessa looked at the rift, then at Rowan. "If I go with you, you still plan to remove the seal."
"The moment I find a way that doesn't kill you."
"And if you don't?"
"Then you stay alive until we do."
"That sounds like an order."
"It is."
Tessa snatched the black metal strip from the floor and held it up. "Then here's mine. You don't leave me behind. You don't hand me to the Council. And you don't touch this seal without telling me exactly what you're doing."
Rowan's gaze dropped to her palm.
"You don't have the power to make demands."
"I have the seal."
"You have a ticking disaster fused to your hand."
"Still mine."
The corner of his mouth moved. Not a smile. Almost one.
"Fine."
"That easy?"
"No. You also follow my orders inside the rift."
"Absolutely not."
"Then stay."
The door cracked wider.
Silver light spilled through the gap. A bolt punched into the wall beside Tessa's head.
Rowan grabbed her waist and hauled her into the blue circle.
She shoved against him. "Warn me next time!"
"You had a bolt next to your face. Consider that warning."
The rift bucked.
Tessa's boots slid. Rowan caught her with both arms, pulling her tight against him as the floor dropped away. His breath struck her cheek. His hand pressed against the small of her back, keeping her from falling into the spinning blue-black tear beneath them.
"Don't let go," he said.
"I wasn't planning to. I was planning to stab you."
"You can do both after we land."
"You really think we're landing?"
"I know we are."
"That sounded like a lie."
The seal flared.
Pain ripped through her chest and Rowan's body went rigid against hers.
Tessa grabbed his coat. "You lied."
"No."
The rift screamed.
The vault door blew inward.
Council soldiers flooded the entrance behind silver shields. At their center stood a woman in a pale coat, her face hidden by a mirrored mask.
"Warden Vale," she called. "Release the thief."
Rowan looked over Tessa's shoulder. His arms tightened around her.
"Not happening."
The masked woman raised one hand.
Every soldier aimed at them.
The seal burned through Tessa's palm. Red letters crawled across the black metal, bright enough to light Rowan's face.
Tessa read them once.
Then again.
"Rowan," she whispered. "What does this mean?"
His eyes dropped to the seal.
The words finished forming.
3 DAYS TILL GREYHARBOR FALLS.
For the first time, Rowan looked afraid.
The rift bucked beneath their feet. Tessa clutched his coat as the blue circle tore wider, dragging them toward the dark opening.
The masked woman shouted, "Seal the chamber!"
Heavy metal braces slammed across the broken doorway.
Rowan pulled Tessa against his chest and raised his glowing blade toward the soldiers. "When I say jump, you jump."
"And if I don't?"
"Then we both die."
"You really need better options."
His gaze locked onto hers. Close. Too close. His thumb pressed once against her wrist, right over the burning mark.
"Tessa. When I say—"
The Council kicked the door the rest of the way in, and Rowan's blade came up between her throat and the first silver bolt—