Chapter 1

I kept my palm pressed to the black crystal.

Heat bit into my skin. The stone pulsed beneath it, dark and alive.

Three feet behind Cassian, a locked brass case sat on a steel stand. The floodgate records were inside. One look could prove who falsified the orders.

One look could save my brother's life.

Or put a rope around my neck.

"Funny," I said. "I thought Blackwater's commander knew the Tide Laws. A public match means a public bond."

Councilors shifted in their seats. Good. Let them watch him refuse me in front of half the city.

Cassian's jaw tightened.

His command coat was perfect. Silver clasps straight. Dark buttons fastened. Not one thread out of place.

His right hand gave him away.

His fingers kept flexing beside his sword.

"The law says a match has to be accepted by both bloodlines," he said.

"No, it doesn't. It says the matched pair chooses at the stone. You know that."

"I know exactly what it says."

"Then say it clearly."

The Tide Priest leaned toward us, his old fingers clutching the edge of his white robe.

"Commander Rook, the mark has appeared. The harbor witnessed it. Answer her."

Cassian finally looked at me.

Gray eyes. Cold. Sharp enough to cut.

For half a breath, the crowded hall disappeared. Heat rolled off his body across the narrow dais. Salt clung to his skin. Leather. A metallic bite from the floodgate powder dusting his coat.

My mark burned around my wrist.

His mouth flattened.

"I reject the bond," he said.

The words hit harder than the harbor alarm bells.

A laugh broke from the upper seats.

"The diver thought she could claim the commander's blood?"

My fingers dug into the stone.

Cassian didn't move. He'd done it cleanly. No hesitation. No apology. Just six words, delivered while the entire city waited for me to break.

I lifted my chin.

"Try that again," I said. "Louder. I want every person in this hall to hear you."

His gaze dropped to the silver ring hanging between us on its tide chain.

The ring had formed when our marks appeared—his black wave curling around my wrist, my pale blue line burning across his palm. The old bond should've sealed the second he took the chain.

Instead, he held it like he was deciding where to cut.

"I reject Mara Quill of the lower wards," he said. "I won't take her into my house, my command, or my bloodline."

The murmur rolled through the hall.

My face burned.

Not from shame. From the way his voice stayed steady while mine had to claw its way out.

"You forgot the important part," I said. "Tell them why."

His eyes snapped back to mine.

There it was.

A warning buried under all that calm.

Don't make me say it.

I smiled without warmth.

"Go on, Commander. Tell them I can't be trusted because my mother worked the lower wards. Tell them a disaster diver doesn't belong beside the man who controls every floodgate in Blackwater."

I tilted my head.

"Or tell them the council made you choose their alliance over the bond."

Council Minister Evelyn Dane rose from the first row. Her pearl gloves were folded over her stomach.

"This ceremony isn't a stage for personal accusations," she said.

"It became one when he rejected me in front of everyone. Unless public humiliation only matters when the wrong person suffers from it?"

A few people snickered.

Evelyn's smile vanished.

"Careful, Mara. Your diving license is still under review. One more accusation, and you'll lose access to the lower gates."

There it was.

Her hand around my throat.

No gate access meant no work. No work meant no money for my brother's medicine. The council knew exactly where to press.

I pulled my palm off the stone and faced her.

"You can't threaten my license because your commander doesn't like being questioned."

"I can do whatever the council authorizes."

"Then authorize an investigation."

"You're not in a position to demand anything."

"Neither is a woman hiding behind pearl gloves. Yet here we are."

A sharp breath moved through the seats.

Evelyn's eyes went hard.

"You should've learned your place before you stepped onto that dais."

"I know my place." I pointed at the brass case behind Cassian. "It's wherever the truth is buried."

Cassian stepped closer.

His boot stopped inches from mine. The chain between us pulled tight, dragging the silver ring against my fingers.

Heat rolled off his body and caught against my bare wrist. My mark answered with a hot pulse.

Damn it.

I hated that I noticed his breath. Hated the way it brushed my cheek when he leaned in. Hated that my body recognized him while he stood there and tore me apart.

"Walk away," he said under his breath.

"You first."

His eyes narrowed.

"Mara."

"What? Afraid I'll look at the floodgate orders while your friends clap?"

His face went still.

There.

That tiny pause.

He knew exactly why I'd come.

"You were never invited to inspect those files," he said.

"And you were never invited to reject me after using my blood to open the ceremony seal. Yet here we are."

The Tide Priest lifted his staff and struck the stone once.

The crack rang through the hall.

"The bond must be settled before the chain can be removed. Commander, you have rejected the match. Mara Quill, do you accept the rejection?"

The hall went quiet.

Accept it?

If I said yes, my mark would be sealed as a rejection. Every pack, guild, and harbor authority would know Cassian had refused me.

No one hired a rejected diver for dangerous work.

Evelyn watched me with a satisfied tilt of her chin.

Cassian watched me like he was begging me not to speak.

Too late.

I turned toward the priest.

"I accept—"

Cassian's hand closed around my wrist.

His palm was hot. His grip wasn't gentle, but it wasn't cruel either.

That almost made it worse.

The mark under his thumb flared.

A breath caught in his throat.

Mine did too.

"Don't," he warned.

I looked down at his hand, then back up at him.

"Don't touch me after rejecting me in front of the whole harbor."

His fingers tightened.

The crowd leaned closer.

"Mara, listen to me."

"No. You listen."

I stepped into him until my chest nearly brushed his. Salt and leather filled my lungs. The warmth of his body pressed through the thin fabric between us.

His eyes dropped to my mouth.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

The chain trembled between us.

"You want me off this dais? Fine." I held his stare. "Give me the case first."

His gaze lifted to mine again.

"You don't know what you're asking for."

"I know exactly what I'm asking for. The floodgate records."

Evelyn's voice cracked across the dais.

"Commander Rook, remove her. Now."

Cassian didn't look away from me.

"You came here for the records," he said quietly.

"I came here for the truth."

"You came here to expose me."

"If the truth exposes you, that's not my fault."

His thumb slid once over the burning mark on my wrist.

My breath caught before I could stop it.

His eyes sharpened at the sound.

For one dangerous second, the rejection, the council, and the watching crowd disappeared. There was only his hand around me, his body inches from mine, and the furious heat passing between our marks.

Then he leaned closer.

His breath touched my ear.

"If you open that case," he whispered, "you'll learn exactly why I rejected you—and why the council wants you dead—"