Chapter 30 · The Door That Remembers

"Tell me who he was." I tightened my grip on Kane's hand. "And don't stand there pretending losing his name means you've lost the truth."

Kane's fingers jerked around mine.

The registry had ripped the memory out of him minutes ago. His palm was hot. His hand still shook. His face had already gone cold.

That was his favorite trick. Bleed inside. Look untouchable.

"I don't know," he said.

"Try harder."

His eyes cut toward Mara.

She sat against the registry wall with a blood-soaked strip of cloth tied around her wrist. The red line beneath her skin had stopped moving, but it hadn't disappeared. One bad breath, and it could start crawling again.

Kane looked back at me. "You think I chose this?"

"I think you knew my father had plans for me." I yanked my hand free. "And you still signed our contract."

His jaw locked.

There it was.

The bruise neither of us wanted to touch.

"Careful, Evelyn," he said. "You promised not to turn my sacrifice into another debt."

"I promised not to let my father make you pay it." I stepped closer. "That doesn't mean I'll stop asking what you know."

"I don't know.