Chapter 32 · The Vault's Verdict

"I get to decide when the city gate alarms start hunting you."

Dorian spun me around so fast my back slammed into the iron shelving.

Metal screamed behind me.

His palm hit the rack beside my head. His other hand locked around my wrist. Smoke curled between us, hot and bitter. His body blocked the worst of it, but not his heat. Not the hard line of his chest against mine. Not the rough breath catching when his eyes dropped to my mouth.

"I get to decide when three guards come after you with tools made to tear you apart," he said. "I get to decide when this building has six minutes left before it drops on our heads. And I get to decide when the only exit is behind me."

"There it is." I shoved at his chest. "The commander."

"Yes. The commander who knows exactly how bad this is."

"Then stop pinning me here and move."

He didn't.

His fingers shifted over my wrist. One inch. Then another. His thumb brushed my pulse.

It jumped.

His eyes sharpened.