He took a step toward me.
The chain pulled at my wrist.
"You think I did this to you?" he asked.
"I think you helped someone frame me."
"I followed orders."
"That's what cowards call betrayal when they want to sleep at night."
His jaw flexed.
Sable grabbed my arm. "Lia, enough."
"No. He wants answers? Give him one. He dragged me into a cell, took my magic, and stood there while the duke called for my execution. Now he wants me to trust him because his curse has a bad night?"
Cael's face hardened. "I stopped the execution."
"You didn't tell me."
"You would have run."
"You locked me in a cell. I was already trying."
"Because the people who wanted you dead were inside the prison."
I stopped.
The wardens were still down, but distant boots pounded toward us. More were coming.
"What did you say?" I asked.
Cael stepped closer. "The duke's guards didn't want you questioned. They wanted your contract hand. They needed the magic in your blood. I put you in the only cell with a ward they couldn't cross."
"You expect me to believe you now?"
"No. I expect you to survive long enough to hate me properly."
Sable swore under her breath. "The eclipse is starting."
Above the broken gate, the moon dimmed.
Not all at once. A black edge slid across it, swallowing the pale light piece by piece.
Cael bent slightly, one hand braced against his knee. His breathing changed.
"We need shelter," Sable said.
"There is a carriage tunnel under the old courthouse," I said. "It connects to the river road."
Cael looked at me. "You know a way in?"
"I know every way in. I used to write the courthouse contracts."
"And every way out?"
"Ask me after you stop bleeding on my shoes."
He glanced down at the blood on his side. "You noticed."
"It is difficult not to notice when you keep standing in front of me."
"You like me there."
"I like things that block arrows. You are temporarily useful."
A low sound rolled through his chest.
Not quite a laugh. Not quite a growl.
Sable pointed toward the alley mouth. "Talk while moving."
We ran.
The chain forced Cael and me to stay close. Every time one of us moved too fast, the spell snapped us back within three steps. His shoulder brushed mine as we cut through a narrow passage. His hand caught my elbow when I slipped over broken stone.
"I had that," I said.
"You fell."
"I was dodging a body."
"You were looking behind you."
"I was checking for wardens."
"You were checking whether I was following."
"I was checking whether you had finally died."
"You would miss me."
"I would celebrate."
He tugged me around a corner just as a spear stabbed through the space where my ribs had been.
My back hit his chest.
His arm locked around my waist, holding me still. The smell of his blood filled my nose. His mouth came close to my ear.
"Celebrate later," he whispered.
I felt the words against my skin.
"Move your arm."
"The spear is still there."
"Your arm is still there too."
"You are welcome."
He pulled me forward. The spear withdrew from the wall.
A masked warden shouted, "They went toward the courthouse!"
Sable grabbed a hanging rope and sliced it with her knife. A stack of old crates crashed into the alley, blocking the pursuit.
"That buys us thirty seconds," she said.
"You always this optimistic?" I asked.
"Only when I'm lying."
Cael's eyes flicked to her. "You knew about the chain before tonight."
Sable's mouth tightened. "I knew Lia had a binding key."
"You didn't know it would bind me."
"I knew it might."
I stopped. The chain jerked Cael to a halt beside me.
"You knew?" I said.
Sable lifted both hands. "I knew the duke's people were hunting you. I knew Cael was the only person strong enough to get us through the lower gates. I did not know the spell would wake up."
"You used me as bait."
"I used the chance I had."
"That is a pretty way to say it."
"Pretty doesn't keep us alive."
Cael looked between us. "The ledger. Where is it?"
My hand went to the inside pocket of my coat.
His eyes followed the movement.
"If you touch it, I will break your fingers," I said.
"If I wanted it, I would take it."
"Try."
He leaned in. "You want me to?"
The words were quiet, but the space between us tightened.
Sable made a disgusted sound. "Can both of you stop threatening each other like you're one bad decision away from kissing?"
I shoved Cael back. "We are not."
He caught my hand before it reached his chest. "You keep touching me first."
"You keep standing where my hands land."
"That sounds like an excuse."
"It's a warning."
His thumb pressed against my knuckles. Warm. Steady. Too gentle for a man who had just held my throat.
I pulled free. "The ledger is in the courthouse vault."
Cael's expression went flat. "You brought us here for it."
"I brought us here because it contains the name of the person who changed the murder contract."
"You know the name?"
"I know half of it."
"Whose half?"
"The first letter was burned away."
"And the other half?"
I looked toward the courthouse doors. "The last name is Rook."
Cael went completely still.
Sable's face tightened. "Lia."
"You asked."
"You think my family killed Harrow?" Cael said.
"I think someone used your name to order it."
"And you believe I don't know?"
"I believe your memory has holes."
His gaze sharpened. "Who told you that?"
"The contract did."
For the first time, fear crossed his face.
Then the moon went black.
Every warding mark in the courthouse flared at once. The chain around my wrist turned white-hot. Cael stumbled toward me, and I caught his coat before he hit the ground.
His hand closed around my waist.
The other caught the back of my neck.
His forehead nearly touched mine. His breath shook against my lips.
"Don't let go," he said.
"I wasn't planning to."
"You should."
"Make up your mind."
His fingers tightened. "You gave me your heart once."
I stared at him. "What did you just say?"
His eyes fixed on mine, wide and gold in the dead moonlight.
A gun clicked behind me.
Sable's voice came from the courthouse steps, but it wasn't Sable's knife she held now. A stranger stood behind her, one arm locked across her throat, the barrel of a black pistol pressed to Sable's temple.
The stranger wore a white warden mask with no mark on it.
"Step away from Cael Rook," she ordered.
Cael pulled me behind him, but the chain dragged us together.
The masked woman cocked the pistol.
"Lia Vey," she said. "Tell him what you did the first time, or I put a bullet through your friend."
Sable's eyes met mine. She shook her head once.
Cael's claws slid free.
The gun barrel shifted from Sable's temple to my chest.
"Last chance," the woman said. "Who gave you the order to—"