Chapter 11 · Scripting Power

"Sit. Now."

Kael kicked the oak chair to the center of the room. Wood screamed on stone and my teeth hurt.

I didn't move. I kept my back on the cold wall.

"You're shaking," I said. "It's distracting."

"Shut up." He finally looked at me. Eyes like a storm about to break. "You get what just came down? The Regent's inner circle. They don't want you protected anymore. They want you extracted."

"Extracted," I said. "Cute word for cut open."

"It's not cute. It's a death sentence." He stepped in fast. Didn't grab me. Just took all the air. "They want to dig your head open like a mine. You get that?"

I could smell leather and cold rain on him. Sharp, like ozone before lightning. Heat coming off his chest even though he wasn't touching me.

"And I thought I was just the disgraced princess," I said. "Turns out I'm an asset."

"You're not an asset. You're a liability with a fancy frequency." He crowded me, hands braced on the wall on either side of my head. "So tell me. Who are you? The girl who lived here was a vacuum. No power. No spine. Nothing.