Chapter 32 · You dragged me into this vault

"You dragged me into this vault."

"I dragged you away from the first fire."

"Then you locked me in here." His arm tightened.

"Because the people outside were waiting for you."

"So you chose the cage."

"I chose the door I could control." For one beat, neither of us moved. His thumb shifted over the bruises on my wrist. Heat spread beneath his touch. My breath caught, and his hold changed—not weaker, but more careful.

"Don't mistake your body for permission," he murmured.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"I'm not." The speaker hissed.

"Eighty seconds. Knox, if she stays in the vault, she burns with the evidence. If you open the hold, she walks into the second fire. Pick one." I looked toward the speaker.

"Who are you? You know his family. You know the sequence. Give me a name."

"Ask him what happened at Briar House." Knox shoved me away from the cabinet. I caught the tray against my stomach.

"Briar House?"

"Drop it."

"What happened there?"

"Drop the tray, Rhea."

"Did your family start that fire?" His eyes flashed. Another blast shook the room. Hot air punched through the vent and struck my face.