Chapter 20 · The Power Waltz

"Don't move a muscle, Sloane. Not one."

Kael's chest slams into my back and pins me to the obsidian. Cold wall on my front. Hot body on my back. His fingers lock around my wrist like a cuff.

"You're shaking," he breathes against my neck. His heat rolls over me. Ozone and leather. His heart hammers against my shoulder blades. "That fear? Or you still figuring out how to play me?"

"Maybe I'm cold," I say. My throat's sandpaper. That resonator Augustus used is still buzzing in my bones, turning my limbs to lead. "Or maybe I'm wondering why the High Guard's playing bodyguard for the girl he's supposed to feed to the Spire."

He yanks me tighter. No air left between us.

"I'm not your bodyguard," he snaps. "I'm your keeper. Difference."

"Is there?" I tip my head back. Look him dead in the eye. "Cause you look like a guy who's terrified he's starting to feel something."

His eyes go dark. That perfect professional mask slips.

"You think your little head games work on me?" he says, low. "I've watched empires burn, Sloane. I've watched men torch their own kids for a hit of frequency.