Chapter 16 · The Key Beneath the Ashes

"Get your hand off me, Cedric. The arsenal is going to blow."

His grip locked around my wrist before I could reach the iron door.

Heat punched through the stone beneath our boots. Somewhere below us, metal screamed. The fortress alarm started a second later, three hard bells that shook dust from the ceiling.

Cedric dragged me back against his chest.

"You knew this was coming."

"I knew someone had tampered with the powder line. I didn't know your guards were too stupid to notice."

His breath hit the side of my neck. Hot. Angry. Too close.

"Careful," he said. "You're one insult away from spending the night chained to my bedpost."

"Try it, Commander. You'll lose the hand you use to unlock doors."

His fingers tightened. Not enough to hurt. Enough to remind me that he could.

Beyond the iron door, men shouted. Boots slammed over the upper passage. A sharp burst shook the floor, followed by the stink of sulfur pushing through the seams.

Cedric turned my wrist until my palm faced up. The red blood-seal under my skin burned in answer.

"The throne archive," he said.

I stopped fighting.

He saw it.