"The bond hasn't sealed," the Tide Priest said, swallowing hard. "The chain has to be broken."
Cassian reached for the silver ring.
I caught his wrist before his fingers touched it.
Heat shot through his skin and straight into my palm. His pulse slammed beneath my grip—fast, hard, almost as wild as mine.
The crowded hall blurred around us.
"Don't touch me," he said.
He didn't pull away.
"Then stop standing close enough to lie."
His thumb brushed the inside of my wrist. Barely there.
A warning.
Or an invitation.
His breath caught. Mine did too.
"You don't know what you're asking for."
"I know exactly what I'm asking for." I tightened my grip. "A public bond. A place beside you. And one look at the records you locked away."
His eyes dropped to my mouth.
Only for half a second.
That tiny betrayal hurt worse than his rejection.
"And if I say no?" he asked.
"You already did. I'm still standing."
His jaw tightened. "Mara."
"What? Scared I'll stop begging?"
His eyes snapped back to mine.
The air between us turned hot and tight. His body was too close. His coat brushed my bare arm, and every inch of me noticed.
Then he tore his wrist free.
The chain snapped taut between us. The silver ring struck the tide stone with a sharp crack.
Pain jumped through my fingers, but I didn't let go.
Cassian caught the chain in his fist. "Last chance. Walk away with your dignity."
A laugh scraped out of me. "You don't get to offer me dignity after dragging me onto this platform to ruin me."
"I dragged you here because the council demanded a witness."
"No. You dragged me here because you thought I'd bow when you threatened my license."
His mouth flattened. "I thought you'd be smart."
"Smart women don't trust men who hide their orders."
The words cut through the hall.
Every whisper died.
Behind Cassian, the brass case holding the floodgate records clicked.
The lock had recognized the command seal hanging at his throat. The lid lifted half an inch.
Black paper showed through the gap.
Cassian saw where I was looking.
"Mara, don't."
"Don't what? Read the proof?"
I lunged for the case.
He moved faster.
One arm hooked around my waist and hauled me back against his chest. His coat scraped over my bare shoulders. Heat covered my back. His breath struck the shell of my ear.
"Let go," I hissed.
"Stop fighting me."
"You're pinning me in front of the entire harbor."
"Because you're about to steal a sealed order."
"Then stop waving treason in my face."
His arm tightened around my waist. Not enough to hurt.
More than enough to make my body remember what his mouth had refused to give me.
The bond between us yanked once beneath my skin—hot, vicious, alive.
Cassian felt it. His breath roughened against my neck.
"You think that order proves I'm corrupt?" he asked.
"I think clean-handed men don't hide their paperwork."
"You have no idea what you're looking at."
"Then show me."
"No."
"Get your arm off me."
"Not until you promise you'll stay behind me when the gates—"
The tide stone exploded with light.
The black crystal split down the middle.
The shockwave ripped me out of Cassian's arms and hurled me into the crowd below the dais.
Someone screamed.
Bodies crashed into mine. A shoulder slammed into my ribs. My knees buckled, and I hit the stone floor hard enough to bite my tongue.
Blood flooded my mouth.
"Mara!" Cassian shouted.
Hands grabbed for me.
I shoved them away. "Don't touch me!"
The hall shook again.
A grinding roar rose from beneath the harbor. Water slammed into the lower floodgates, each impact rattling the floor beneath my palms.
The brass case crashed off the dais.
Papers scattered across the stone.
Cassian jumped down after me, sword half-drawn. "Clear the lower exits! Move!"
People surged for the doors.
I pushed myself upright. Pain stabbed through my side.
"You don't command me," I snapped.
His hand clamped around my elbow. "Right now, I do."
"Get off me."
"The lower wards are flooding."
"You said the gates were sealed."
"They were."
"Then somebody opened them."
For the first time, his control cracked.
"Get behind me," he said.
That wasn't a commander's order.
That was fear.
I looked past him.
The broken chain still hung from my hand.
The ring had split down the middle.
A dark symbol began to burn inside the crack.
Cassian followed my stare.
The color drained from his face.
"What is that?" I asked.
He said nothing.
"Cassian."
Another alarm screamed from the lower wards.
Then a second.
Then every warning bell in Blackwater Harbor began shrieking at once.
The broken ring flared red in my palm.
A black seal pushed up through the silver, sharp and unmistakable.
I knew that mark.
It was stamped on every command sent from Cassian's floodgate tower.
I stared at him. "Your seal is inside my ring."
His fingers tightened around his sword.
"Mara, listen to me."
"You put your seal in the chain."
"I didn't."
"Then why is it there?"
"I don't know."
That answer landed worse than a lie.
He stepped between me and the crowd, forcing everyone back with the blade. His shoulder brushed mine. His body came close enough to trap me against him again, but this time he kept his hands away from my waist.
His eyes stayed on the ring.
"Put it down," he said.
"Make me."
His gaze lifted to mine.
The sword turned in his hand.
Then he leveled the tip at my chest.
Steel pressed against the fabric over my heart.
My pulse jumped beneath it. His breathing changed too—rough and uneven—but his arm stayed steady.
"Mara," he said, voice low, "put the ring down and tell me who gave you—"