Chapter 25 · The Command Seal

"Let go of me!" I twisted against Dorian's grip, but his fingers locked around my wrist, hot enough to hurt through my sleeve.

Behind him, the shield core screamed through the chamber walls. Red light strobed over his face, turning the commander who'd rejected me in front of half the city into something sharp and bloodless.

"If I let go, the core takes you," he said.

"It already took my name."

The black letters on the command glass cracked apart.

MARA VOSS.

The last name blinked.

Then the O vanished.

My stomach dropped. "The purge started."

"I know."

"Then stop holding me and open the archive channel. The raw sabotage record is still inside the core."

Dorian's jaw clenched. "Silas sealed it."

"Silas doesn't own this city. You do."

"I own the gates. The council owns the shield."

"Cute distinction. People are still going to die."

A cannon fired somewhere below us.

The floor bucked. I slammed into Dorian's chest, and his free hand caught my waist before my knees hit the metal grating.

His palm spread across my back.