Chapter 18 · What happened?

Then the memory slammed shut.

I gasped.

Calian staggered with me. "What happened?"

"The bond took something."

His hands loosened. "What?"

"A memory."

"No."

"It was about my sister. Her last day. I could see her face, and then—nothing."

The command mark burned brighter.

Calian pushed me behind him as the basement doors burst open. Three masked figures climbed through the dust, weapons drawn. Their coats carried the council seal, but someone had scratched through it with a blade.

"Guardian," the tallest one called. "Step away from the asset."

Calian's shoulders locked.

I grabbed the back of his coat. "They called me the asset."

"I heard them."

"So did you know?"

"Not before tonight."

The masked attacker lifted his weapon. "Hand her over, Vey. The oath will take the payment cleanly."

Calian moved first.

He hit the man hard enough to send him into the railing. Another attacker lunged. Calian caught the blade on his forearm. Blood splashed across the floor.

The pain hit me through the bond.

I cried out and dropped to one knee.

Calian turned toward me.