Chapter 24 · The Dual Key

"Get that cannon off me, Dorian!" I hit the floor as the first blast tore through the stone where my head had been.

Dust filled my mouth. The chamber bucked beneath me and slammed my back into the second core. A ring of blue fire snapped around my wrists.

Dorian seized my coat and dragged me behind a broken pillar. Then he threw his body over mine.

The next cannon fired.

Heat ripped across his back. His arm locked around my waist, hard enough to bruise.

"You can complain," he growled against my ear, "when we're not being shot at."

"I'm complaining now because your seal is painted across my chest like a death warrant."

His eyes dropped.

The black commander seal burned through my shirt, a sharp V of light pressed over my heart. Every time it flashed, the second core swung its cannon toward me.

Dorian's jaw went tight. "I didn't put that there."

"Your mark disagrees."

Another blast slammed into the pillar. Stone burst above our heads.

Dorian shoved me lower, one forearm braced over me.