Chapter 32 · Flip the Verdict

"Sign it." Asher's voice cut through the hum of the silver circle like a blade through silk. "You've got ninety seconds before the moonlight burns through what's left of your judicial seal."

Sienna's wrists screamed where the chains bit into her skin. The purification array was live, silver runes crawling up her arms like frost. Each breath tasted like copper and smoke.

"I'm not signing my own execution order," she said.

Asher stepped closer, boot heels sharp on marble. The blood mark hovered in the air between them, already half-inked with her name. "You already did. Six years ago. When you sent Kael Thorne to rot on fabricated evidence."

"That was justice."

"That was a frame job." He tilted his head. "And you knew it. You just didn't care."

Kael's voice came from the edge of the circle, rough and furious. "Let her go, Asher."

"She sentenced you to die in that cell." Asher didn't turn. "Why are you defending her?"

"Because she's mine." Kael slammed his palm against the barrier and the silver light shuddered. "The bond chose. I don't get to undo that."

Sienna's heart kicked once, hard. She forced herself to look at Asher instead.