Chapter 6 · The Blood They Stole

"Get away from her, or I start cutting fingers." Lyra drove the broken edge of a silver seal into the guard's throat before he could finish dragging Mira across the archive floor.

The guard froze. Mira did not. She slammed her heel into his knee, twisted free, and crashed into a stack of locked document boxes.

"That was my line," Mira gasped.

"You were taking too long."

"I was being strangled."

"And now you're not. Move."

Three black-coated court enforcers blocked the only door. Their red badges showed the execution authority, which meant they could kill Mira on the spot and call it paperwork. Behind them, iron shelves climbed to the ceiling. Every shelf held contracts, blood records, erased names, and enough secrets to start a war.

Caelan stood between Lyra and the nearest enforcer, one hand pressed to his side. Blood darkened his shirt beneath the ribs. His other hand held a short blade, but the tremor in his wrist was getting worse.

The lunar curse was awake.

"You're late," he said.

Lyra glanced at him. "You look terrible."

"You look armed with office supplies."

"It's a seal cutter."

"It has a wooden handle.