Chapter 32 · The Golden Boy's Lie

"You heard him," I said. "Your mentor just ordered you to kill me." Julian's hand closed around my wrist before I could reach for the relay console.

"I heard him," he said.

"Then let go."

"Not until you tell me what you took from me."

His grip wasn't crushing, but it was firm enough to remind me of the bond. One pulse of pain traveled from his fingers to the mark under my collarbone. The stolen power inside my chest answered it, hot and restless.

I shoved my free hand against his shoulder. "The part that was mine."

"You pulled it out of me."

"You were using it to hold me down."

"I was keeping you alive."

"By draining me?"

His jaw tightened. "You were bleeding power into the floor. If I hadn't sealed the transfer—"

"Don't dress it up, Julian. You put your hands on me and called it protection."

His eyes dropped to my mouth for half a second. Then they snapped back to mine.

That tiny pause hit harder than it should have. His palm was warm around my wrist. His body stood too close, blocking the console and the only door out of the relay room.