Chapter 8 · The Loop Under the City

"Get your hand off me, Cade, or I swear I’ll break it." Evelyn drove her elbow back, but Cade caught the strike before it reached his ribs.

His fingers closed around her wrist. Hard. Warm. The black ring locked around both their hands pulsed once, and the vault floor dropped another inch beneath their boots.

Stone cracked under them.

Cade pulled her against his chest before she slid into the widening gap. His coat scraped across her cheek. His breath hit the top of her head, sharp and controlled, like he had not just watched half the floor collapse into darkness.

"You’re welcome," he said.

"I didn’t thank you."

"You were about to fall."

"I was adjusting my position."

"Into a hole?"

"It looked stable."

"You looked stable." His grip tightened. "That’s the problem. You keep pretending you know what you’re doing."

Evelyn shoved against him. The ring jerked them closer instead of letting her go. A hot line flashed beneath her skin, running from the obsidian band up her arm.

She bared her teeth. "You’re the one dragging me through a collapsing clock vault."

"Because you stole the record."

"Because your court buried it.