Chapter 30 · The Price of Remembering

"Let go of me, Ronan." His hand locked around my wrist before I could step into the black water. "You don't get to decide where I stand anymore."

The seventh gate shuddered beneath our boots. Cracks split the stone floor, leaking dark water that crawled over my ankles and climbed toward my knees.

Above the pit, the gate core hung by a thread. It was split down the middle, pulsing like a dying heart.

Ronan yanked me back against his chest. His breath struck my ear, hot and sharp. "You're not going in there."

"You tried that speech last time." I twisted against him. "Didn't work."

"Mara—"

"No." I drove my free hand into his ribs. "You rejected me in front of half the city. You cut my name out of your records. You turned me into a weakness everyone could use. So don't stand there now and pretend you get a vote."

His jaw tightened.

Water slapped against the stone behind him.

"I was trying to keep you alive," he said.

"You were trying to keep control. There's a difference.