Chapter 1

Black fire climbed the courthouse tower, swallowing windows one by one. People ran through the square with their clothes smoking. A child cried somewhere under the bells. Then the bells stopped.

Cade pressed the blade harder.

"You heard the order," he said. "Hands behind your back."

"You mean the order you signed?"

His jaw tightened. "Careful."

"Why? You're going to kill me either way."

"That's the plan."

He was too close. His coat brushed her shoulder every time the wind shoved smoke across the platform. Heat rolled off his body, steady and controlled, while the city came apart behind him.

Cade Rourke never looked rushed. Not when he arrested smugglers. Not when he sentenced memory thieves. Not even now, with half the harbor burning under his boots.

That calm made Evelyn want to hit him more than the blade did.

She twisted her wrists against the iron cuffs. "The fire started in the west vault. Your guards sealed every gate. You knew this was coming."

"I knew you were stealing restricted memories."

"That isn't an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

He grabbed the back of her collar and forced her upright. His fingers closed around the fabric at her throat, not quite touching skin. The restraint should have terrified her.

It did.

She just refused to let him see it.

"Look at the tower," she said. "Your order killed those people."

"My order brought you here alive."

"No. Your order brought me here to shut me up."

Cade's gray eyes dropped to her mouth for half a second.

The pause was tiny. Barely there.

Evelyn caught it anyway.

"What?" she snapped. "Can't decide whether to cut me or kiss me?"

His expression went flat. "You talk too much for someone with a blade at her throat."

"You stare too much for someone who claims he hates thieves."

His hand shifted. The blade left her skin, but his thumb stayed under her jaw. Warm. Firm. A pulse beat in his wrist against her cheek.

"I don't hate thieves," he said. "I hate liars."

"Then you're going to hate yourself."

The first tower bell rang again.

The sound rolled through the square. A deep, broken note that shook the platform beneath her knees.

Evelyn looked past Cade.

The clock above the courthouse had cracked down the middle. Its hands pointed to twelve forty-seven.

Thirteen minutes before one.

Thirteen minutes before the whole city died.

She had stolen the memory from a dying court clerk three hours ago. Not the whole thing. Just a flash. A black seal. A command stamped in Cade's name. The west vault opened. The fire released.

She hadn't had time to read the rest.

Now she knew where the seal had come from.

Cade's signet ring sat on his right hand, dark silver against his glove.

"Show me the ring," she said.

"You're in no position to give orders."

"Take off the glove."

"No."

"You want to know what I stole? I'll tell you. I stole the memory of the man who wrote your order. I saw your seal on it."

Cade leaned closer. Smoke scraped her throat. His breath touched her ear, warm against the heat pouring off the burning tower.

"You saw a seal," he said quietly. "That doesn't mean you saw me sign anything."

Evelyn went still.

There it was.

Not denial.

Not anger.

A careful little gap between the words.

"You didn't sign it," she said.

"I didn't say that."

"You don't know who did."

His fingers tightened under her jaw. "Stop digging."

"Why? Afraid I'll find the hole you crawled out of?"

A guard shouted from the stairs.

"Officer! The east gate's gone!"

Cade didn't look away from Evelyn. "How long?"

"Three minutes, maybe four!"

"Get the prisoners below the courthouse. Leave the square."

The guard hesitated. "And her?"

"She stays with me."

Evelyn laughed once. "That's sweet."

Cade's eyes sharpened. "Move."

"No."

He caught her arm and hauled her toward the stone stairwell. She dug her boots into the platform.

"I said no."

"And I heard you."

"Then let go."

"You have two choices. Walk, or I carry you."

"Try it."

His mouth pulled tight, almost a smile and not nearly kind enough to count.

"You really want to test me now?"

"You've spent ten minutes trying to put a blade through me. Seems rude not to learn something before I die."

He pulled.

Evelyn slammed her shoulder into his chest.

The impact made him grunt. His grip broke for one second. She spun, drove her cuffed hands into his throat, and ducked under his arm.

A guard raised a crossbow at her.

"Don't!" Cade barked.

The bolt flew anyway.

Evelyn turned too late.

Cade moved faster.

He stepped between them, caught the bolt against his bracer, and shoved Evelyn behind him.

The metal tip scraped across his sleeve.

"I gave an order," he said.

The guard lowered the crossbow. "She attacked you."

"And you nearly shot her."

"She's condemned."

"She's mine until the sentence is complete."

The words hit harder than they should have.

Evelyn stared at the back of his coat. "Yours?"

Cade turned his head. "Don't make this worse."

"You just claimed me in front of half the square."

"I claimed authority over the prisoner."

"That's not what it sounded like."

His gaze dropped over her face again. This time, he didn't hide it fast enough.

"You heard what you wanted," he said.

"I hear everything. It's my job."

She shoved past him and ran.

The courthouse stairs blurred beneath her boots. Smoke poured down from the upper floors. Somewhere behind her, Cade swore and followed.

That was the problem with men like him. They expected fear to do the work for them.

Evelyn had survived too many locked rooms, too many interrogators, too many people who thought a stolen memory made her weak.

She reached the lower landing and kicked open the maintenance door.

A chain snapped across the exit.

She hit it shoulder-first and bounced back.

Cade caught her before she fell. One arm locked around her waist. His other hand braced against the wall beside her head.

Her back met hot stone.

His chest pressed against hers through two layers of clothing. His breath came close to her mouth, controlled but heavier now.

"You keep running," he said, "and I keep catching you."

"Don't sound so proud. The building's on fire."

"Still caught you."

"Move your arm."

"Tell me where you were going."

"Away from you."

"Wrong answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

His eyes narrowed. "You think being difficult will save you?"

"No. I think the truth might."

"The truth is you're a convicted memory thief who broke into a sealed vault and pulled a dead man's last thought out of his skull."

"He wasn't dead when I touched him."

Cade's grip changed. His palm pressed against her ribs, stopping her from twisting away.

"That distinction doesn't help you."

"It helps me sleep."

"You won't be sleeping tonight."

"Neither will Grayharbor. Not if you keep following orders."

The chain rattled behind her.

A deep boom rolled through the courthouse.

The floor jumped. Dust fell from the ceiling. Cade turned his head toward the sound.

Evelyn saw the opening.

She slammed her forehead into his nose.

Cade cursed and staggered back.

She grabbed his right hand.

The signet ring flashed beneath his torn glove.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Checking your story."

She pressed two fingers to the ring.

The memory hit her like a punch.

A long table. Red wax. A gloved hand setting down a black command sheet.

Cade's seal.

A voice saying, "Open the west vault at twelve thirty-four. Burn the city after the witness is secured."

Evelyn gasped.

The memory wasn't from the ring.

It was from Cade.

His past slammed into hers, bright and brutal. A training yard. A dead woman in a blue coat. Cade kneeling beside her with blood on his hands. A younger version of him whispering, "I was too late."

Then the memory tore.

Cade ripped his hand away and seized Evelyn by the wrist.

"Get out of my head."

His grip crushed bone. His face had gone cold, but his breathing had changed.

Evelyn forced a smile. "You felt that?"

"I felt you trespass."

"Then you know I'm telling the truth."

"I know you're dangerous."

"You know the order was real."

He shoved her against the wall again. The stone dug into her shoulder. His face stopped inches from hers.

"Say what you saw."

"You first."

"Say it."

"You burned Grayharbor."

His thumb pressed over the inside of her wrist. Her pulse jumped beneath it.

"I didn't light the fire."

"Your seal opened the vault."

"I didn't give that order."

"Then who did?"

His gaze flicked toward the stairwell.

Someone was coming down.

Boots. Slow. Heavy. More than one person.

Cade dragged Evelyn behind him and drew his sword.

She grabbed the back of his coat. "Don't leave me here."

He glanced over his shoulder. "That sounded almost polite."

"Don't get used to it."

"Stay behind me."

"You don't get to protect me after trying to execute me."

"I do if I want answers."

"You want answers? Stop pointing steel at my throat."

"Give me one reason."

"Because I can prove who doomed this city."

The boots stopped above them.

A voice called down, "Officer Rourke. Bring the thief upstairs. The court wants her alive."

Cade's eyes narrowed.

Evelyn whispered, "The court wants me dead."

"You don't know that."

"I know the difference between a witness and a scapegoat."

"You have one minute to convince me."

"Your seal opened the west vault. The command was written before the fire started. Someone used your name to make you take the blame."

"And you just happened to steal that memory?"

"I steal memories for money. I don't set cities on fire for fun."

"You stole from a dying man."

"He asked me to."

"Dead men don't ask."

"This one did."

A bolt punched through the maintenance door.

Cade pulled Evelyn down as another bolt tore through the wall above her head.

They hit the floor together. His body covered hers. His forearm locked beside her neck. His coat smelled like smoke, metal, and the sharp oil used on execution blades.

"Stay down," he ordered.

"Get off me."

"They'll shoot through you to reach me."

"Then stop using me as a shield."

"I said stay down."

"You always this controlling?"

He looked at her. Even in the dark stairwell, she could see the small cut across his nose from her headbutt.

A drop of blood slid toward his mouth.

Her hand moved before she could stop it.

She wiped it away with her thumb.

Cade went very still.

Evelyn felt the heat of him through her glove. Felt his breath catch. For one stupid second, neither of them moved.

Then he caught her hand.

His fingers closed around hers, rough and warm.

"Don't touch me again," he said.

"You were bleeding."

"Let me bleed."

"Fine."

He didn't let go.

The door above exploded inward.

Three masked soldiers rushed down the stairs.

Cade rolled away from Evelyn and met the first man halfway. Steel struck steel. The stairwell filled with sparks and shouts.

Evelyn scrambled backward, still cuffed. A soldier reached for her hair.

She kicked his knee.

He dropped with a roar.

"Rourke!" the second soldier shouted. "The order says kill her if she resists!"

Cade drove his elbow into the man's throat. "The order says alive."

"Not anymore."

The soldier pulled a short pistol from his coat.

Evelyn saw the muzzle turn toward Cade.

She lunged.

Cade caught her around the waist. They crashed through the side door into the lower vault passage. The pistol fired behind them.

The shot struck stone.