Chapter 14: The Weight of a Flame

The night air was a slap of sobriety. Leo stood at the top of the vault stairs, the First Fracture cold against his chest where he'd tucked it inside his jacket. The silver line on his wrist pulsed in time with his heartbeat, a quiet metronome of consequence. Around him, the survivors of the Grinder's trial milled about in small clusters, clutching their own relics—a jade ring, a scroll of copper,...