Chapter 15 · The Name on the Kill Order

"Step away from the ledger, Mara."

Cael’s voice wasn't a request. It was a low, vibrating warning that hit me right in the chest. I didn't move. I couldn't. My fingers were still shaking against the parchment. The ink of the kill order stared back at me like a fresh wound.

"What is this?" I whispered. My voice cracked. "Why is my name on a target list from before the bells even started?"

Cael didn't answer. He moved—fast.

One second he was five feet away. The next, his hand clamped around my wrist, wrenching me back from the desk. He slammed me against the stone wall of the archives. The impact knocked the air out of my lungs in one sharp gasp.

Cold damp seeped through my tunic. But all I felt was him. He pressed me into the rock, his body a wall of hard muscle and suppressed rage.

"You weren't supposed to see that," he hissed.

His face was inches from mine. I could smell the metallic tang of blood and old rain on his skin. His eyes weren't the eyes of the man who'd helped me through the streets ten minutes ago.