Chapter 14 · The Price of Entry

The maintenance lift did not stop so much as give up.

Its chains shrieked. The floor vanished beneath Nora’s boots, and the three of them dropped through a shaft filled with black vapor, broken cables, and the distant roar of Asterfall’s lower engines. Beckett swore first. Nora followed half a heartbeat later when her injured leg slammed against the iron wall.

Kane made no sound.

That frightened her more than the fall.

He lay against the opposite side of the lift cage, one hand clamped over the wound beneath his ribs. Blue-white light pulsed between his fingers. Each flash showed more blood on his shirt, more darkness spreading beneath his skin. The thunder lance had not merely pierced him. It had lodged a live current inside his body, chewing through flesh and magic alike.

“Kane.” Nora crawled across the bucking floor and caught his jaw. His skin was cold. “Look at me.”

His eyes opened. Gold flickered through the storm-gray irises.

“Still married?” he rasped.

She stared at him. “You’re bleeding out.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“Unfortunately.” Her fingers trembled against his cheek. “The contract is still active.”

“Then I’m still winning.”

The lift lurched again.