for the b

nd yanked her behind the poetry shelf. A palm covered

man breathe

black cars stopped. Doors open

against his skin. A thin line

over the CLOSED sign, over the dark shelves, over the

oice said. "Li

," said another.

at felt like an hour. Then the cars rolled

shoved him back and held the letter

are

ched his throat and looked at the blood on h

t Enforcers

I got here. They're good." He wiped his hand on

t of my

ack. They alway

nster. Congratulations. Do you want to drain me her

here to k

at the las

me to offer you a job. One th

sharp. "I'm good at hiding. I'm good

he Empire knows it, which is why they burned every record of your kind. But I found one.

t it on the counter between them.

touch it. "W

en

. Men in expensive suits. Women beside them, pale, thin, staring at nothing. Each woman

taken by force. The marks aren't real bonds. They're copies. Someone figured out how to

h turned. "That's not possible. A bon

oesn't deci

angry, just tired, like a man who had

don't love them, and the fake bonds are eating them from the inside.

sor

" He pointed at the

pped bac

n break

ped out before she could stop them. Kaelen's head lifted, shar

d quietly. "Your past

ood we

" she w

took a slow breath. "But I need you to underst

you know

the sign

ng. Heat crawl

w you're hiding in a bookstore, waiting for them to find you. And they

do you

the very bottom. It showed this exact street, taken f

," he said. "It was in an Enfo

ees nearl

rmission to move." He met her eyes. "Help me, and I'll hide you wher

hat's

hom