Chapter 40 · You just said I was the one with the strategy

I grabbed the handle again and kicked the bottom hinge. The door groaned but held.

Julian staggered upright behind me. He reached past my shoulder, close enough that his sleeve brushed mine, and planted his palm against the lock.

"Move."

"You just said I was the one with the strategy."

"I said you had a knife. There's a difference."

His power poured into the lock. Gold light ran along the metal, but this time it wasn't clean. Black veins cut through it.

"Julian," I warned.

"Get back."

"You're going to blow the door and your arm with it."

"Then stand farther away."

"You don't get to sacrifice yourself because you finally decided to feel guilty."

His head turned. His face was inches from mine.

"You think this is guilt?"

"What else would you call it?"

"A choice."

"You always choose the League."

"Not tonight."

For a second, the room narrowed to his hand beside mine and the heat between our shoulders.

Then the lock exploded.

The door flew outward. Julian grabbed my waist and pulled me behind him as shards of metal ripped through the passage. His palm pressed against my side. Firm.