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"Tell me who gave you the fire order." Cade's hand closed around Evelyn's wrist before she made it three steps.
His grip was hard enough to stop her, not hard enough to break bone. That almost made it worse.
Evelyn twisted toward him. "Let go."
"Name the officer."
"You first."
Cade shoved her back against the stone wall. His coat brushed her knees. The metal clasp at his throat caught the torchlight, and the black seal stamped into it looked exactly like the one on the execution order.
The one that had sent Grayharbor into flames.
His face stayed cold. His eyes didn't.
"You were inside the Hall of Ash when it started," he said. "You walked out carrying a stolen memory core. Three guards saw you. One of them is dead. Why?"
"Because he tried to put an arrow through my spine. Bad manners, really."
"You expect me to laugh?"
"No. I expect you to stop pretending this is an investigation. You came here to kill me."
His fingers tightened around her wrist.
The obsidian ring between them pulsed once.
Pain snapped up Evelyn's arm. She bit down before a sound escaped.
Cade noticed anyway. His gaze dropped to the ring, then rose to her face.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing. Your jewelry hates me."
"It wasn't mine five minutes ago."
"Then congratulations. You finally own something interesting."
He leaned closer. His breath touched the side of her face, warm against the cold stone behind her. Evelyn hated that she noticed. Hated the steady heat of him, the clean leather smell of his coat, the way his thumb rested against her pulse like he could count every lie she told.
"You have one chance," Cade said. "Tell me who ordered the burn."
"Your seal did."
For the first time, his expression cracked.
Not fear. Not guilt.
Recognition.
Evelyn drove her knee up.
Cade turned just in time. Her knee hit his thigh instead of anything useful. He caught her other arm and pinned both wrists above her head.
"That was your chance," he said.
"That was me being polite."
"You call that polite?"
"I didn't bite you."
His mouth pulled tight. "You really don't know when to stop."
"I know exactly when to stop. Usually right before men like you start bleeding."
He pressed closer to hold her still. His chest nearly touched hers. The ring sat between their hands, black and dull, except for the thin red line crawling around its edge.
Evelyn stared at it.
The line had not been there before the fire.
"Your seal is on the order," she said. "The order says to evacuate the west district, lock the clock gates, and ignite the lower vault. You signed it."
"I didn't."
"Then your hand did it without you. That's impressive."
"Where did you see the order?"
"In the command room."
"You broke into the command room?"
"I break into lots of rooms. It keeps life exciting."
"You stole a memory core."
"Yes."
"You killed a guard."
"No. He was alive when I left. Angry, but alive. If he died, maybe your people finished the job."
Cade's jaw flexed.
There it was. The weak spot.
Not the seal. Not the fire.
The dead guard.
He didn't know what had happened after she left. He had been given a clean story and a body to blame.
Evelyn shifted her wrists. His grip adjusted automatically. He was trained. Strong. Infuriatingly careful.
"You don't know who issued the order," she said.
"I know what was placed in my hand."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
"Then kill me."
His eyes sharpened.
Evelyn lifted her chin. "Go on. You brought the blade. You brought the warrant. You brought enough men to drag me through half the city. Finish your job."
Cade looked toward the iron door behind her.
The execution chamber lay on the other side. She had escaped it during the last loop by stealing a guard's key and running through the service tunnels. This time, she had made it six minutes farther.
Progress.
It still wasn't enough.
"You remember the fire," she said.
His focus snapped back to her. "What?"
"You remember it. Not the order. The fire."
"Stop guessing."
"You flinched when I said lower vault. Your thumb stopped moving. You looked at the door like the smoke was still behind it."
"I said stop."
"What did you see, Cade?"
He slammed her wrists against the wall.
The ring flashed red.
This time the pain hit both of them.
Cade swore and released one hand. Evelyn used the opening to twist free. She drove her shoulder into his chest, tore across the chamber, and kicked the fallen execution blade under a bench.
"Evelyn!"
She grabbed the door handle.
The ring yanked.
Not metaphorically. Not like a warning.
It pulled her backward with the force of a hooked chain buried under her skin.
Her boots scraped over the stone. Her shoulder slammed into Cade's chest, and his arms closed around her before she hit the floor.
The pain vanished.
Evelyn gasped. Cade's hand was spread across her ribs, holding her upright. His other arm locked around her waist.
For one sharp second, neither of them moved.
His heartbeat struck against her back.
"You felt that," she whispered.
"Yes."
"So did I."
"I noticed."
"Let go."
"Step away from the door."
"You first."
His mouth brushed close to her ear, his voice low. "Try running again and I'll carry you back."
The threat landed exactly where he wanted it to.
Evelyn elbowed him in the ribs.
He grunted but didn't let go.
"You could have said no," she snapped.
"You could have listened."
"I don't take orders from executioners."
"You do when the alternative is your wrist being ripped apart."
That shut her up for half a breath.
Cade turned her around. He didn't release her. His hand stayed at her waist while he caught her wrist and lifted it between them.
The ring had changed.
A thin black thread now ran from the obsidian band to the metal seal on his glove. It trembled between them, tight as wire.
"How do we cut it?" he asked.
"You tell me. You're the officer with the fancy gloves."
"You stole it."
"I found it in the vault."
"You said you stole it."
"I was under pressure."
"You were under arrest."
"Same basic mood."
He pulled a narrow knife from his belt and held the blade against the thread.
Evelyn's stomach dropped. "Don't."
Cade glanced at her. "You just told me to cut it."
"Not with that."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't a chain."
"Then what is it?"
"A memory lock. It hooks into the nearest living mind when the bearer is about to die. If you cut it wrong, it takes something with it."
"How do you know?"
She hesitated.
Cade's eyes narrowed. "How do you know?"
"Because I already tried."
"When?"
"Earlier."
"Earlier today?"
"Earlier than that."
He caught her chin and turned her face toward him. The touch was controlled, almost gentle, but she couldn't move away without putting her throat against his fingers.
"How many times have you worn it?"
"Enough."
"That's not a number."
"I don't owe you one."
"You owe me the truth if that thing is tied to my life."
"You owe Grayharbor the truth if your seal burned it. We're both disappointed."
His thumb shifted under her jaw.
The room seemed to shrink around the two of them. Evelyn could feel the heat of his palm through her skin. His eyes stayed fixed on hers, dark and steady, but something rough moved beneath that control.
A memory.
She had touched it.
"You saw the tower," she said.
Cade went still.
"You saw the clock tower fall."
"No."
"You saw black fire pour through the streets."
His grip tightened.
"I said no."
"You saw me in the flames."
Cade shoved her away.
She hit the table behind her. A stack of documents slid to the floor.
"Don't put that in my head," he said.
"It's already there."
"You don't know what I saw."
"Then tell me."
"I saw Grayharbor burning."
The words came out flat, but his face had lost its cold mask.
Evelyn didn't move.
Cade looked at the black thread between them. "I saw the west district go first. People trapped behind the clock gates. The fire wasn't red. It was black. It climbed walls without touching them."
"And?"
"And I was standing in the square."
"With your sword?"
"With your blood on it."
Evelyn's fingers went cold.
He looked directly at her now. "You were on the other side of the flames. You grabbed me."
"I did?"
"You asked why I burned the city."
Her breath caught.
The last thing she remembered before dying was heat chewing through her clothes, smoke filling her mouth, and Cade's hand locked around his sword. She had reached for him through the fire because he was the only person close enough to blame.
She hadn't known he remembered.
"What did I say?" she asked.
"You said my name."
"That's it?"
"You said, 'Why did you do this?'"
"And what did you answer?"
Cade's gaze dropped to her mouth, then moved away so fast she almost missed it.
"I didn't answer."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't know."
The admission hit harder than his grip.
Evelyn stepped closer. "Say it again."
"I don't know who gave the order."
"But your seal opened the fire gates."
"My seal was used."
"By whom?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to trust that?"
"No. I expect you to understand that I want the same person dead."
"You still came to execute me."
"The order named you as the cause."
"And you believed it?"
His stare turned hard again. "I had evidence."
"You had a document."
"I had a dead councilor, three burned archives, and your stolen core."
"The core contained proof."
"The core contained a memory."
"Same thing, if you know how to read it."
"Then show me."
Evelyn laughed once. "You want the memory?"
"I want the truth."
"The core shattered when you put a blade to my throat."
Cade's hand dropped to his sword.
"You don't remember that part?" she asked.
"I remember enough."
"No, you remember a piece. That's the problem. You woke up with a warrant and decided the missing pieces were my fault."
"You were holding the core."
"Because someone was trying to erase it."
"Who?"
"The person who sent you."
"Name them."
"I can't."
"Can't, or won't?"
"Can't. The memory was sealed."
Cade stared at her for a long moment.
Then a bell rang somewhere above them.
One deep note.
Evelyn's head snapped toward the ceiling.
"That isn't supposed to ring yet," she said.
Cade moved at once. He crossed the chamber, shoved open the side door, and scanned the corridor.
Two guards waited outside with crossbows raised.
"Officer Rourke," one called. "Step away from the prisoner."
Cade's hand found the hilt of his sword.
Evelyn moved behind him. "Those your men?"
"Not mine."
"They know my name."
"Everyone knows your name."
"They also know about the ring."
The guard on the left smiled. "Bring the thief to the tower. The court wants her alive."
Cade didn't look back. "The warrant says execution."
"The warrant has changed."
"Show me the new order."
The guard raised his crossbow.
Evelyn grabbed Cade's sleeve and pulled him sideways.
The bolt struck the doorframe where his head had been.
Cade drew his sword.
The next few seconds broke apart into motion. He knocked the second bolt from the air, kicked the door into the first guard's knees, and drove the flat of his blade into the man's wrist. The crossbow clattered away.
Evelyn snatched it up.
"You know how to use that?" Cade demanded.
"Pointy end forward. I learned the basics."
She fired.
The bolt buried itself in the wall beside the second guard's ear.
He froze.
"I said basics," she muttered.
Cade grabbed her hand and pulled her down the corridor.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Away from the men who just changed my orders."
"You trust me now?"
"No."
"Good. I hate awkward partnerships."
They reached the stairwell. Cade kicked the gate shut behind them and dropped the iron bar into place.
The guards hit the other side a second later.
"That won't hold," Evelyn said.
"It only needs to hold for a minute."
"A minute until what?"
"Until the ring decides to hurt us again."
She looked down.
The black thread had tightened around their wrists. It no longer connected to his glove. It had sunk into the skin just above his pulse and hers, leaving a thin dark mark.
"You should have mentioned that," she said.
"You were busy shooting at a wall."
"The wall had it coming."
Cade pushed her down the stairs. Not roughly. Not kindly either.
The narrow steps twisted below the execution hall. Evelyn counted them without meaning to. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen.
The tower bell rang again.
Cade stopped.
Evelyn nearly collided with his back. Her hands landed against his shoulders. Heat moved through the leather beneath her palms.
He turned his head. "Don't touch me unless you mean to push."
"You stopped."
"I heard something."
A soft scrape came from below.
Evelyn reached for the knife at her boot. Cade caught her fingers before they closed around the handle.
"Behind me," he said.
"Try asking."
"Behind me."
"Still not asking."
He turned fully and backed her against the stairwell wall. His body blocked the lower steps. One hand braced beside her head, the other held her wrist.
His face was close enough that she could see the tiny scar under his left eye.
"If something comes up those stairs," he whispered, "you run when I tell you."
"And if I don't?"
"The ring drags you back."
"You sound very pleased about that."
"I sound alive."
"You don't get to own my survival."
"Then stop making me save it."
His gaze stayed on hers.
For one dangerous second, the argument went quiet. His thumb rested over her pulse again. Her breath caught against the space between them.
She could have pulled away.
So could he.
Neither did.
A chain clanged below.
Cade released her and turned.
"Run," he said.
This time, she did.
They burst through the upper door into the old bell chamber. The tower machinery filled the room, gears turning behind iron cages. A red needle shook over a brass dial.
Evelyn saw the number before Cade did.
"That's wrong," she said.
"What is?"
"The clock."
The needle jumped backward.
The ring burned.
Evelyn cried out and grabbed Cade's coat. He caught her around the waist as her knees buckled.
"What happened?"
"The countdown moved."
"To what?"
She looked at the red line circling the ring.
It had been ten minutes.
Now it showed nine.
Cade's face went still. "Nine minutes until what?"
"Until the fire starts."
The tower bell lifted for its final strike.
Cade's hand closed around the ring, trapping it between their palms. "You said we had more time."
"We did."
"Who changed it?"
The bell began to fall.
Evelyn stared at him. "Cade, if that bell rings now, the city—"
The final bell struck early, and the black thread around their wrists snapped tight as the ring flared hot enough to—