Page 68 of Zenith Tower

“You believe us.”

“What I believe will not decide the language used in the Council chamber.”

Kieran pushed the blanket away. “Then put my account in the record.”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because a private amendment from me can be challenged or buried. When the panel asks you, answer in the room. Make them record your consent in front of every reader present.”

“And if they don’t ask?” I said.

“Tell them anyway.”

She looked at me then, and I saw the exhaustion thereview chamber usually concealed. It had deepened since she first met us at the bridge.

“An imposed bond gives them grounds to separate you,” she said. “They will call it protection while they test whether the line weakens at distance. They may also claim that any change in Kieran’s Mark resulted from coercion rather than consent.”

“They watched him die,” I said. “Now they’re worried I was unfair to him when I stopped it?”

“They are worried Kieran’s bond leaves you one step from the condition described in the sealed records.”

“What does that mean?”

Her gaze moved to Hale’s unfinished line. “If all three bonds complete, the records describe an Untethered Mark capable of altering other Marks. Repairing them. Damaging them. Changing how they function.”

“Marks belonging to anyone?” Kieran asked.

“Potentially.”

Cold spread through my hands.

“But I can’t do that now,” I said.

“Not beyond the people already joined to you, if the records are accurate. The Council will not wait for the third bond before deciding how to control the possibility.”

“You’ve seen this before,” Kieran said.

“I have seen records that came close.”

“Sadie Corwin?” I asked.

The administrator went still.

“Her file was taken before I could read it,” I said. “What happened to her?”

“This is not why I came.”

“It’s why I’m asking.”

“And I am telling you to survive the next review before you go looking for the one after it.”

She stepped away from the bed, her expression closing.

“When will they call us?” Kieran asked.

“Soon.”