Chapter 16 · The Bell Starts Early

"Don't take one more step." Mara jerked the metal cuff tight around Calder's wrist. "I swear, Calder, I'll drag you into the contract before I let you die for me."

Calder stopped with one boot inches from the black line carved across the tower floor. The shard in Mara's palm pulsed hot enough to sting. Behind him, the stairwell groaned. The contract had started moving again.

"You can't hold me here," he said.

"Funny. Your hand says otherwise."

His gaze dropped to the cuff. It wasn't really metal anymore. Thin red lines crawled from the band around his wrist and vanished under his sleeve. The same lines burned beneath Mara's skin.

He pulled once.

The chain between them snapped tight. Mara flew forward, hit his chest, and caught herself against his coat. Heat rolled off him. His hand closed around her waist before she could fall, steady and hard, his knuckles pressing through the fabric of her shirt.

"Let go," she said.

"You first."

"Not happening."

"Mara."

"No. You don't get to use that voice and make this easy."

Calder's jaw locked. He was close enough that his breath brushed the side of her face.