Chapter 6 · The Order Under Glass

"Who the hell is Ella?"

Cael’s voice was a low snarl. He didn't look at me, but his fingers were white-knuckled on the edge of the parchment. He held that death warrant like a blade he was about to gut me with.

I stepped back, my heel catching on the uneven stone. "I don't know. You're the one reading it. Tell me."

"Don't lie to me, Mara. Not now."

He moved too fast. One blur of motion and I was pinned. My back slammed into the cold metal of the filing cabinet with a rattle that echoed through the archive. Rain, old leather, and sharp ozone—he was everywhere. His chest was a wall of heat against my shoulder, his eyes searching mine for a crack. A flicker. Anything.

"I'm not lying!" I snapped, shoving at him. It was like trying to move a mountain. "Look at the date! I was a trainee. I didn't even know how to hold a bell-hammer back then."

Cael leaned in. His breath was warm against my ear, sending a traitorous shiver down my spine. "The date says you were born for this.