Chapter 22 · The Ten-Year Debt

“Don’t touch that door.”

Calder’s hand closed around Mara’s wrist before her fingers reached the bronze seal.

The vault had opened three inches. Black light leaked through the gap, thin as a blade. It cut across the floor and stopped at Calder’s boots.

Mara twisted hard. “Let go.”

“No.”

“You want the clues erased?”

“I want you alive long enough to read them.”

“That sounds almost sweet.” She drove her elbow toward his ribs.

Calder caught it with his free arm and pinned her against the stone wall. His body blocked the vault. His coat brushed her knees. One hand held both her wrists above her head, and the other stayed locked around the arm with the fresh, pulsing scar.

His breath touched her cheek.

“Try that again,” he said, voice low, “and I’ll chain both hands.”

Mara stared at the line of his mouth. “You say that like you haven’t already chained my whole life to yours.”

His fingers tightened.

A sharp burn shot from her wrist to her shoulder. The scar answered with a red pulse.

Calder saw it. His jaw hardened. “You’re burning time again.”

“I’m opening a door.”

“You’re feeding the reset.”

“Then move.