Chapter 23 · The Voice Outside Counts Better Than She Does

Sona's forearm slammed into my chest before I got both feet under me.

My spine hit stone. Air punched out of my lungs.

"Don't," she said. The flat of her blade pressed up under my jaw—not the edge, which somehow scared me more. "Don't you dare lie to me again."

"Haven't said anything yet."

"That's the problem." Her eyes were wet and furious at the same time, and I never got used to that look no matter how many loops I'd seen her wear it. "Vittal just begged us to kill him. Begged. And you didn't even blink, Rhys. You looked at him like you already knew he was gonna say it."

I could've lied. Done it before, plenty of loops. Shaved the truth down to something she could carry.

But her wrist was shaking against my collarbone and the blade wasn't. The shake was all her, not the steel.

I was so tired of being the reason for it.

"I suspected," I said.

Her breath caught. "Suspected what."

"That it'd come to this. That he'd break before the tower does." I kept my hands loose at my sides, palms out. Universal don't-stab-me posture. "Didn't know the words he'd use.