Chapter 19 · You make that sound like a threat

He stepped closer. His voice dropped so only she could hear.

"I am the man tied to your pulse. If you fall, I fall. If you run, the bond cuts you open. You want freedom? So do I. Until we find it, you stay where I can reach you."

Mara's anger caught on the heat of his breath. His fingers brushed the edge of her coat near her ribs, careful of the wound.

"You make that sound like a threat."

"It is a fact."

"You like facts when they help you control me."

"I like you alive."

The captain shouted, "Enough!"

Riven did not look away from Mara.

"You heard him," she said. "The man with the crossbow is getting impatient."

"Let him."

"You cannot fight the whole roof."

"Neither can they."

"You are still shaking."

"You are still bleeding."

"Then we are both making bad choices."

"That is the first honest thing you have said all night."

A low boom rolled beneath the foundry. The roof shifted. Several guards lost their footing.

Riven grabbed Mara and pulled her against him as a section of tile collapsed near the entrance.

She landed with one hand against his chest.