Chapter 6 · Untitled Chapter

"Three breaths. Tell me who opened the lower route, or I break your hand and use the bones to pick the lock."

Rafe's knee drove into the spy's spine. One gloved hand pinned the man's wrist to the blackstone floor. The other held a knife under his jaw.

The spy laughed through clenched teeth. "You always did love a dramatic entrance."

I stood over them, blood drying across my palm, the royal mark burning beneath my collarbone.

"Rafe. Move."

His eyes cut to me. "No."

"That wasn't a request."

"You walked into an armed vault corridor alone. You don't get to lecture me about restraint."

The spy twisted.

Rafe slammed an elbow between his shoulders. The man's grunt bounced off the stone walls.

"One breath," Rafe said. "Then I start with the fingers."

The corridor shook beneath our boots.

Dust spilled from the seams between the blackstone blocks. Somewhere below us, a heavy mechanism groaned awake.

The lower vault was opening.

Not slowly, either.

A red line pulsed beneath the sealed door at the end of the corridor. Every pulse sent heat through my boots and up my legs.