Chapter 9 · The Voice in the Dark

"Don't touch me."

Dorian's hand stopped an inch from my throat.

The broken mark under his fingers burned. Not like before. This was sharper—thin needles of power crawling through my skin every time I breathed.

He looked just as wrecked. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Black veins pulsed beneath his jaw, glowing with the same silver light that had split my mark apart.

"Mara, if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have pulled you out of the core."

"You dragged your power into me without asking." I slapped his hand away. "Then your council branded me a shield saboteur. Forgive me if I don't feel grateful."

Every screen behind him flashed red.

MARA VOSS—COMBINATION FAILURE.

MARA VOSS—PRIMARY SHIELD THREAT.

CAPTURE ALIVE.

The last order blinked twice.

Dorian saw it. His mouth tightened.

"They're sending guards," he said.

"Your guards."

"Not mine anymore."

He shoved himself off the floor and braced one bloody palm against the metal console. The command seal should've answered him. It had obeyed him since he was seventeen.

Gates opened for him.