Chapter 17 · The Price of Remembering

"Get away from the window, Lia!" Calian slammed his hand against my chest and drove me backward just as a black bolt punched through the glass.

It buried itself in the wall beside my head.

"You said this house was protected." I shoved at his arm. "That was your big guardian promise, remember? No one gets in. No one touches me."

"I know what I said. Move."

Another bolt struck the floor between us. Stone cracked. Cold air rushed through the broken window, carrying the sharp smell of metal and burnt salt.

Calian grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the kitchen. His grip was hard enough to hurt, but the bond answered before I could complain. Heat snapped up my arm. His pulse jumped under my fingers.

So did mine.

"You're bleeding," I said.

A thin red line ran from his temple to his jaw. He didn't even look at it.

"Keep walking."

"Noah's still downstairs."

"And you're not going downstairs."

"You don't get to decide that."

He spun me around so fast my shoulder hit the wall.