Chapter 46 · Touch her again

He lifted one hand and brushed two fingers beneath my chin, turning my face toward the light.

Cassian's anger flared through the bond, hot and immediate.

"Touch her again," he said, "and I will make you regret having hands."

Augustus heard only the growl from Cassian across the room. He smiled anyway.

"There he is. The famous temper. Does he speak often?"

"Only when someone boring is standing too close."

His fingers tightened against my jaw.

"Your pardon is right there. Pick it up."

I stared at him. "And if I refuse?"

"The guards start with his hands. Then his eyes. Then they take the shard from you while you're awake."

Cassian went still.

"Don't listen to him," he said inside my head.

"I'm listening."

"No. You're looking at the paper."

I glanced at the pardon again.

My name. My life. The thing I had wanted every day since the empire branded me a traitor.

Cassian's voice softened, which somehow made it worse.

"Sylvia."

"What?"

"If you take it, take it because you want your freedom. Not because he put a knife to me."

"You don't get to make this noble."

"I'm not. I'm telling you what happens next.