Chapter 11 · The Voice Inside the Mark

"Don't answer him." Calian's hand slammed over my mouth before Marcus could say my name again.

The bunker door buckled inward.

Metal shrieked. Dust dropped from the ceiling and caught in my lashes. Calian shoved me behind him, one arm locked across my chest while his other hand reached for the black command sigil carved into the wall.

"You heard him," I whispered against his palm.

"I heard a transmission. That's not the same thing."

Marcus's voice crackled through the stone.

"Seraphina. Step away from the tyrant. He can't hold the door forever."

His voice hit the exact places it always had. Smooth. Certain. Like my answer already belonged to him.

My fingers curled around Calian's wrist. His skin was hot beneath my gloves. Too hot for the frozen bunker. His claws had pushed halfway through his fingertips, and the bond mark under my sleeve burned in answer.

"That's him," I said.

Calian's eyes cut toward me. Pale. Hard. Dangerous enough to make the guards behind us lower their weapons.

"Your former mate knows your name," he said. "That proves nothing."

"He knows the scar on my left hip. The one he put there." My voice shook once.