Chapter 68 · The Truth Goes Live

"You rejected me on every screen in Briarport, Ronan. Now you're going to watch me tell them why."

Ronan caught my wrist before I reached the broadcast console.

His fingers clamped around me, hot against the cold metal cuff at my sleeve. Behind him, three dead monitors flashed the same red warning:

CORE LINK ACTIVE.

FLOOD RESPONSE ARMED.

"Take one more step," he said, "and the tower sends a surge through the lower gates."

"Then let go."

"Mara."

"Don't use my name like you still have a right to it."

His jaw tightened.

There he was. The High Warden. The man who could shut down half the city with one order and make everyone thank him for it.

I yanked against his grip.

He didn't move.

Celia slapped her palm against the emergency panel. "We have ninety seconds before the tower finishes syncing with the tide core. Either you two settle your mate drama now, or all of us drown later."

Dax glanced at the ceiling. "I vote for later. Somewhere dry, preferably."

"You don't get a vote," Celia snapped.

"I stole the access key. That feels vote-adjacent."

"Shut up and keep the panel alive.