Chapter 26 · Shattered Crest

"Don't touch the crest." Seraphina caught Raven's wrist before his fingers reached the broken seal.

Her grip was tight enough to hurt. The blood-tether under their skin answered with a hot pulse, and Raven felt the same pain flash through her arm. She did not let go.

"Then stop dragging me toward it," he said.

"I'm not dragging you anywhere."

"Your hand says otherwise."

Seraphina shoved him back against a cracked pillar. His shoulder struck stone. Her face was inches from his, her breath quick and warm against his mouth. A thin line of blood ran from her temple to her jaw, bright against the silver edge of her armor.

"You blew up half the armory," she said. "You stole a command pass. You cut through three squads of my own soldiers. Now that pass is pointing at the High Seat, and you want to open a forbidden seal without telling me why."

"You forgot the part where your soldiers tried to kill us."

"They were under orders."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

Her fingers tightened around his wrist. "Answer me.