Chapter 14 · Her Mother's Eyes

"Get off me, Riven."

He had me pinned against the stone floor, one hand locked around my wrist and the other braced beside my head. His coat scraped my cheek. Heat poured off him in sharp waves, hot enough to sting my skin through two layers of cloth.

"You touched the fire," he said.

"You grabbed me first."

"That isn't an answer."

"Then ask a better question."

His jaw tightened. Under the skin of his throat, black light crawled toward his mouth. It looked like ink moving through cracked glass. Every time it pulsed, his fingers crushed harder around my wrist.

The abandoned records room shook around us. Dust dropped from the ceiling. Somewhere beyond the iron door, boots pounded down the corridor.

Riven heard them too. His eyes cut toward the door, then snapped back to me.

"How long until your people find us?" I asked.

"They aren't my people."

"They wear Ash colors. They carry Ash blades. They shouted your name before they tried to kill me. That feels pretty personal."

"You want personal?" He leaned closer. His breath brushed my mouth, hot and uneven. "You stole what was keeping me alive."

"I stole nothing.