Chapter 6 · The Guardian’s Choice

"Don't let go," Calian said, locking his fingers around mine. "Not unless you want the oath to tear us both apart."

"You brought me into the council chamber in handcuffs last night. Forgive me if I don't trust your grip."

His thumb pressed against my wrist. The black countdown burned beneath my skin, each number pulsing with my heartbeat.

Twenty-nine days. Twenty-three hours. Forty-one minutes.

The council doors opened before I could pull free.

Every oathstone in the chamber turned toward us.

There were twelve of them, set into the walls like dark teeth. Council members stood behind a curved table, dressed in silver and white. Sevryn Moore waited in the center, one hand resting on the largest stone.

He smiled at Calian first.

Then he looked at me.

"You were ordered to deliver her," Sevryn said. "Not parade her through our doors."

Calian stepped in front of me. His shoulder blocked half my view of the room, but not the stone at the center. Its surface had already started to glow.

"Lia Vale is under my protection," he said.