"Tell me what order you gave him, Lia." The masked woman pressed the gun harder against Sable's temple. "One lie, and your friend drops."
Sable's jaw tightened. "Don't answer her."
"That's not helping," Lia snapped.
Cael stood three steps away, silver restraints biting into his wrists. His breathing came rough and uneven. Black veins crawled up his neck, fading and returning with every pulse of the eclipse.
The new contract burned between them. Lia felt his pain in her own shoulder. He felt the cut beneath her ribs. Neither of them could move far enough to get away.
The masked woman cocked the gun.
"Last chance," she said. "What did you command Cael Rook to do?"
Lia kept her hands raised. "I never commanded him."
Cael's gaze snapped to her.
The chain around their wrists gave one sharp pull.
The contract knew she was telling the truth.
The masked woman noticed. Her head tilted. "Interesting. It reacts to lies. So try again. What did you ask him to do?"
"Nothing."
Another pull. This one barely moved the chain.
Cael took one step forward. Silver scraped over the pavement.
"Don't move," the woman warned.
"You have a gun," Cael said. His voice had gone low. Too low. "Use it or stop pretending you control this room."
"I control the girl beside me."
"You control a broker with a bad temper. Not Lia."
Sable gave a dry laugh. "Finally, someone noticed."
The gun shifted toward her eye.
Lia's stomach clenched. "Sable. Shut up."
"You always say that when you have no plan."
"I have a plan."
"You have a bleeding shoulder, a cursed enforcer, and half a contract tied around your wrist. That's not a plan. That's a terrible evening."
Cael's eyes flashed silver.
The masked woman smiled behind the white porcelain. "There. That look. That's what I'm here for. The beast under the leash."
Cael pulled against the restraints. Metal groaned.
Lia felt the force of it through the contract. His wrist burned. Her wrist burned. His anger pushed into her chest like hot pressure.
She caught his sleeve before he could pull again.
"Don't," she said.
His head turned. "Take your hand off me."
"Then stop trying to get us both shot."
"She already plans to shoot us."
"Not yet."
The masked woman raised one brow. "And how did you reach that brilliant conclusion?"
"Because if you wanted us dead, we'd already be dead. You need something from me."
"I need an answer."
"No. You need a name. Maybe a command. Maybe proof that I wrote the bond that broke him."
The woman's grip tightened around the pistol.
Lia watched the tiny movement. There. Fear. Not much, but enough.
"You don't know what happened either," Lia said. "You're fishing."
Sable's eyes cut toward her. "Lia—"
"Keep quiet."
"That was my line."
The woman shoved Sable forward. "You think being clever keeps her alive?"
"No," Lia said. "Your contract does."
The masked woman froze.
Cael went still too.
Lia pointed at the chain between her and Cael. "This isn't just a leash. It's a witness mark. If you kill Sable, it records the act. If you kill me, it records your hand. And if you shoot Cael, the bond will drag the damage back into you because you touched the binding before you came in."
The woman looked down at her glove.
A thin red line glowed beneath the leather.
Lia smiled without warmth. "You didn't know."
"You wrote it?"
"I can read it. There's a difference."
"Break it."
"Take off the mask."
The pistol shifted back to Sable's head. "Don't bargain with me."
"Then don't ask me to do magic while pointing a gun at my friend."
Cael leaned closer. The chain pulled between them, forcing Lia to follow. His shoulder brushed hers. Heat rolled off him through the torn fabric of his coat.
"You're stalling," he murmured.
"I'm keeping you from tearing her apart."
"You think I can't hear your pulse?"
"You think I care?"
His eyes dropped to her mouth for half a second.
The look was quick. Still, she felt it.
Then his fingers flexed, and one of the silver cuffs cracked.
Lia turned fast. "Cael."
"Move away from me."
"I can't. The chain won't let me."
"Then cut it."
"I need both hands."
"You have two."
"One is busy stopping you from becoming a public murder charge."
The woman pulled Sable tighter against her.
"Enough," she said. "Lia Vey, you signed an execution order against Cael Rook thirteen months ago. You sent him to the Rook estate. You told him to kneel. Then you put a blade against his chest. What was the final command?"
The words hit harder than the contract.
Cael's face changed.
Not rage. Recognition.
Lia saw it and hated the twist in her chest.
"I didn't sign that order," she said.
The chain stayed still.
The masked woman looked at Cael. "You heard her."
"I heard the chain," he said.
"And?"
"It didn't call her a liar."
"You believe her?"
Cael's gaze stayed on Lia. "No."
"Good."
"I believe she doesn't remember."
The masked woman's posture tightened.
Lia caught it. "You know about the missing time."
"I know you were there."
"Where?"
"At the estate."
"When?"
"You were holding a knife."
Lia's fingers went cold. "Who told you that?"
Cael's jaw worked. His eyes lost focus for one hard second.
A flash hit him. Lia knew it because the pain slammed through the contract at the same time.
A stone room.
A blade.
His hand around her wrist.
Her voice saying his name.
Then nothing.
Cael staggered.
Lia grabbed his coat. "Cael. Stay with me."
"Don't touch me."