“Why?”

“Because I knew he was your friend.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I know, Paige. I know you are the missing Seal. Only a fool could not have worked it out.”

I held his gaze. “Are you going to tell Nashira?”

He looked at me for a long, long time. Those were the longest seconds of my life.

“No,” he said, “but she is not a fool. She has long since suspected who you are. She will know.”

My stomach writhed with nerves. Warden stood and paced toward the fireplace.

“There has been a complication.” He gazed into the flames. “You and I have saved each other from the first death. We are beholden to one another, bound by a life debt. Such a debt carries consequences.”

“Life debt?” I thought back, working through the remnants of the morphine. “When did I save your life?”

“Three times. You cleaned my wounds, which bought me time to seek aid on the first night. You gave me your blood, preventing me from contracting the half-urge. And when Nashira summoned you to her table, you protected me. If you had told the truth, I would have been executed. I have committed many flesh-crimes, the penalty for which is death.”

I didn’t know what flesh-crime meant, and I didn’t ask. “And you saved mine just now.”

“I have saved your life on several occasions.”

“When?”

“I would prefer not to divulge that information. But trust me: you owe me your life more than three times over. It means that you and I are no longer merely keeper and student, or master and slave.”

I found myself shaking my head. “What?”

He rested an arm on the mantelpiece, staring into the flames. “The æther has made its mark on both of us. It has recognized our tendency to protect one another, and now we are sworn to protect each other always. We are bound together by a golden cord.”

I wanted to laugh at his grave tone, but I got the feeling he wasn’t joking. Rephs didn’t make jokes. “Golden cord.”

“Yes.”

“Has it got anything to do with the silver cord?”

“Of course. It slipped my mind. I suppose it has some link, yes—but a silver cord is personal, unique to the individual. A golden cord is formed between two spirits.”

“What the hell is it?”

“I hardly know myself.” He poured the dark contents of a vial into his glass. “From what I understand, the golden cord is a kind of seventh sense, formed when two spirits save each other at least three times from the first death.” He raised the glass and sipped. “You and I will always have knowledge of each other now. Wherever you are in the world, I will be able to find you. Through the æther.” He paused. “Always.”