Chapter 26 · The Judgment Lock

"Keep moving, Mara. Don't look back."

Ronan dragged me through the iron service door, one hand locked around my wrist. His other hand clamped over his ribs.

Blood leaked between his fingers.

"You have a funny way of rescuing people," I snapped. "You reject me in front of half the city, let the council put a kill order in my hand, and now you're dragging me into a sewer?"

"It's a tide-gate tunnel."

"Oh, good. That makes it so much better."

He slammed the door behind us.

The metal crash shook dust from the ceiling. Red emergency lamps blinked along the wet stone walls.

Then Ronan folded.

His knees struck the floor. His grip on my wrist tightened until his knuckles went white.

Pain ripped through my left leg.

I dropped beside him. "What the hell was that?"

"The judgment lock."

Another pulse punched through us.

Ronan jerked. My thigh cramped so hard my boot scraped over the stone.

"You feel that every time he moves?" I asked.

"Every step." He sucked in a breath. "Every breath, if the council feels cruel."

"And you thought dragging me down here was a good idea?"

"If we stay, the wardens find us."