Chapter 22 · The Lie He Told

"Take your hands off me, or I'll make this hearing very expensive for the council."

The guard twisted my arm higher.

Pain ripped through my shoulder. I kept the black record clamped against my ribs with my free hand.

Dorian stood beneath the council seal in the same dark uniform he’d worn when he rejected me in front of half the city.

His eyes dropped to my trapped arm.

Then to the record.

"Let her go."

The guard hesitated. "Commander, she broke into the restricted archive."

"I heard you."

Dorian’s voice stayed calm. His jaw didn’t.

"Let her go."

The guard released me so fast I stumbled toward the council steps.

Dorian caught my elbow before I hit them.

His glove brushed my skin.

Heat snapped through the moon mark beneath my collarbone.

I jerked away. "Don’t touch me. You rejected me in front of everyone once already. You don’t get to play protector now."

Several council members shifted in their seats.

Good. Let them hear it.

Dorian’s fingers closed around my sleeve instead of my skin.