Chapter 7 · Shadows of the Empire

"Stay behind me."

Kaelen's hand hit my chest and shoved me back against the worktable. Hard.

My spine slammed into the edge. Vials rattled.

"What did you do?" I hissed.

He didn't answer. He just stood there breathing. Too calm. Too still.

His hands were covered in blood.

Not a little. Soaked. Dripping down his wrists onto my floor. Fresh and dark and wrong.

"Kaelen. What did you do?"

"They knocked," he said. His voice was flat. Empty. "You told me not to answer. You told me to be quiet."

The knocking from the front door had stopped. That was the problem. It had stopped too fast.

"Where are they?" I grabbed his wrist. His skin was hot. Too hot. Burning through the blood. "The inquisitors. Where are they, Kaelen?"

"Gone." He looked down at me. His eyes were wrong. That gold in them was eating the blue. "I made them gone."

My stomach dropped.

"You went outside?"

"They were going to come in. They were going to take you." He leaned in. Closer. His bloody hand was still on my chest, pinning me. "I didn't let them."

"How many?"

"Two.