Chapter 19 · Untitled Chapter

"Put the blade down, Tessa." Cael caught her wrist before the edge touched the glowing chain between them.

"Move your hand."

"You’ll cut through both of us."

"That’s the point."

His grip tightened. Heat shot from his palm into her skin, sharp enough to make her teeth click. The heartlock pulsed beneath her ribs, matching his heartbeat with a hard, ugly thump.

Across the abandoned control room, Niko slammed another bolt into the door.

"The wardens are inside the tower!" he shouted. "You’ve got two minutes. Maybe less!"

Tessa yanked against Cael’s hold. "Then quit wasting time."

"You’re bleeding."

"So are you."

"I’m not the one holding a severing knife."

"No. You’re the one holding me hostage."

Cael’s jaw flexed. Blue light jumped beneath his skin, racing toward his wrist before the lock dragged it back.

He stood too close. One shoulder blocked the control panel. One boot pinned her between him and the table.

Usually, Tessa could slip a wrist, break a thumb, and be gone before a man understood he’d lost.

Cael Arden wasn’t usually a man.

He was the missing heir to the Shield Authority.