Chapter 7 · That's Exactly What It Says

"You said the pact needs one signer to die. It doesn't say the signer has to be alone."

"That's exactly what it says."

"No. It says whoever signs alone loses their heart at dawn."

Kane's eyes narrowed.

I pressed my bleeding palm against the contract.

"We didn't sign alone," I said. "We signed in front of each other."

The page turned ice-cold beneath my hand.

Kane's hand snapped over mine before he could stop himself. Blood slid from the cut across his palm and mixed with mine on the paper.

The contract screamed.

Not out loud.

Inside my skull.

The bedroom walls buckled. The windows exploded inward, but the shards stopped inches from our faces. Every piece hung in the air, trembling.

Kane's fingers locked around mine.

"Pull away."

"No."

"Evelyn, pull away now."

Black lines crawled over his arm. They should've been climbing toward his heart.

Instead, they shot across the space between us and wrapped around both our wrists.

A new line appeared beneath the original clause.

One letter at a time.

Kane stared at it.

"What is that?"

He didn't answer.

"Kane."

His face went blank.

I looked down.

The new words weren't written in blood.