Chapter 45 · The Blood Code

"Put the knife down, Ivy."

Silas had me pinned against the stone wall before I could take a second step. His forearm pressed across my ribs, not hard enough to crush them, but hard enough to make the point. His other hand caught my wrist and twisted it above my head.

The knife slipped from my fingers and clattered across the floor.

"You first," I snapped.

His gray eyes narrowed. "You don't get to make demands right now."

"Then stop pretending this is a conversation."

His breath brushed my cheek. Warm. Controlled. Too close for a man who claimed he didn't trust me.

Behind him, two guards stood with their weapons drawn. One of them had blood on his collar. The other kept staring at the folded note on Silas's desk like it might bite him.

Silas tightened his grip. "You were found inside my private wing with a coded death note in your hand."

"I found it under my pillow."

"And you opened it."

"Obviously. I can read."

"You can read a code no one in this fortress has seen in twenty years."

"That's not the same thing as writing it."

His jaw flexed. "Who gave it to you?"