Chapter 5 · Untitled Chapter

"Liar."

"If I'd known, you wouldn't be standing."

The words hit harder than he'd meant them to. His jaw tightened, but he didn't take them back.

Good. Let him choke on them.

I stepped closer until only a breath separated us. "Did you sign the flood order?"

"No."

"Your seal is on it."

"Someone used it."

"Convenient."

Red warning lights flashed across his face. The tower groaned around us, metal shrieking somewhere below. Cassian didn't look away.

"You think I flooded the lower wards just to make myself look useful?" he asked.

"I think you rejected me in front of the entire city and expected me to trust you five minutes later."

His expression cracked.

Half a second. That was all I got.

I drove the knife in.

"You could've refused the bond in private," I said. "Instead, you chose a stage, a council witness, and a dozen cameras. You wanted them to watch me fall."

"I wanted them to see the alliance hold."

"So I was the price."

"You were the risk."

The answer landed clean. No hesitation. No apology.

I laughed once. It came out sharp and ugly. "Thanks for clearing that up."

I turned away.

Cassian caught my elbow. "Don't walk off."

"Why? Afraid I'll find someone who doesn't treat me like a disaster?"

His fingers slid down my arm and closed around my forearm. Warm skin. Hard grip. Too close again.

"I'm afraid you'll run straight into the next collapse."

"Maybe I should. At least the collapse won't pretend it rejected me for my own good."

His grip tightened.

He leaned in, his mouth near my ear. His breath warmed my neck, but his voice stayed cold.

"You think I did it because I wanted to hurt you?"

"I think you did it because you wanted everyone else to believe you don't want me."

He went still.

There it was.

The ring between our hands burned hotter, biting into my skin. His eyes dropped to it, then lifted back to mine.

"Mara—"

"Don't."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Then explain it."

"Not here."

"You had a whole city watching when you broke the bond. You don't get to hide now."

The floor jumped beneath us.

Iron slammed against iron. Dust burst from the ceiling. The stone under my boots dropped half an inch, and my stomach lurched with it.

Cassian moved first.

He slammed me against the inner support beam and covered me with his body as a section of railing tore loose overhead. Metal screamed. Sparks spit across the red-lit chamber.

His arm locked around my waist.

His other hand braced beside my head.

His chest pressed hard against mine through our coats. His heartbeat punched against my ribs.

"Don't move," he ordered.

"Get off me."

"Not until it stops."

"Cassian—"

"Stay still."

The tower lurched again.

His mouth brushed my temple. His breath caught against my skin, and the bond yanked tight between us. Pain flashed through my shoulder and down my spine.

I bit back a cry.

He felt it.

His gaze dropped to my mouth, then snapped back to my eyes. Gray. Dark. Too close.

"You heard something," he said.

"I hear everything."

"What is it?"

"Your heart."

For once, Commander Cassian had nothing to say.

I slid one hand beneath my coat.

The knife came free.

I pressed the blade under his jaw.

Cassian froze.

One twitch. One bad breath. I could open his throat before he stopped me.

His arm stayed locked around my waist. His body stayed between me and the falling stone.

"Move away," I whispered.

"You won't cut me."

"Try me."

His eyes held mine. "If you wanted me dead, you would've done it before I shielded you."

"Don't make that sound noble. You need me alive."

"I need answers."

"You need the floodgate log."

"I need you to stop standing under a collapsing tower with a knife and a grudge."

"Then give me the key."

His stare sharpened. "What key?"

The tower groaned around us.

Behind the walls, water slammed against stone. Not flowing. Rising.

Then the bells below rang.

One.

Two.

Three.

A chain snapped somewhere deep in the tower. A muffled roar rolled up through the floor.

The bond split open inside my skull.

People screaming. Children crying. Guards shouting over one another.

The lower wards.

Not later.

Now.

I pushed the blade harder beneath his jaw. A thin red line appeared on his skin.

"Open the console."

"No."

"Then people die."

"You expect me to believe that while you're holding a blade to my neck?"

"You should believe it because the tower is shaking under your feet."

His eyes cut toward the old floodgate console built into the wall.

Then they returned to me.

"Put the knife down."

"Move first."

"Mara."

"Cassian."

The sound of my name in his mouth scraped somewhere too deep. His palm pressed against my hip, fingers spread over the fabric like he was afraid I'd vanish the second he let go.

I hated that my body noticed.

I hated his heat even more.

"Let me go," I said.

"You won't run?"

"I might."

"Mara."

"You want the knife gone? Take your hand off me."

His jaw worked.

Then he released me.

Not completely. His palm stayed at my hip for one last second before dropping away.

I stepped toward the console.

"Don't follow me."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Liar."

"You already used that one."

I slammed the ring into the central slot.

The metal flashed white.

A current tore through my hand.

I gasped and jerked back, but Cassian caught me before I hit the floor. His chest struck my back. One arm hooked around my waist. His other hand closed over mine and forced the ring deeper into the slot.

His mouth hovered beside my ear.

"Don't pull away."

"You said it was safe."

"I didn't say that."

"You let me touch it."

"Because the console won't open for me."

"So you used me. Again."

His thumb pressed over my knuckles. Heat seeped through my glove. "Keep your hand there."

"Give me one reason."

"Because if you pull away now, the current will burn through your arm."

"You could've led with that."

"You weren't listening."

"I was busy trying not to stab you."

"You still are."

The lock clicked.

A thin blue line raced across the console. It climbed over the carved symbols, then split into three branches. The warning tone shook my teeth.

Every red light died.

For one breath, there was nothing but his body pressed against mine and the ring burning between our hands.

Then the console spoke.

"Flood sequence active. Lower wards breach in sixty minutes."

The words echoed through the chamber.

I grabbed Cassian's wrist. "There's a master key."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"You just said there was one."

"I heard it through the bond."

"From who?"

"From the tower."

"Mara, stop talking in riddles and tell me where it is."

The answer struck through the bond, hot and sharp.

Not in the console.

Not in the tower.

Inside him.

I stared at his chest.

A bright line glowed beneath his coat. It began over his heart and ran down his arm, following the veins beneath his skin toward the hand still holding mine.

Cassian felt me staring.

His grip went rigid.

"What did you hear?"

I reached for my knife again.

This time, I didn't aim at his throat.

I pressed the point against the glowing mark beneath his ribs.

His breath stopped.

Mine did too.

"The lower wards drown in one hour," I said. "And your body is carrying the only master key."

The blue light under his skin pulsed against my blade.

Cassian's eyes locked on mine.

"Mara, don't—"

"Tell me, Commander," I whispered, pressing the knife just hard enough to tear the fabric, "what exactly did they burn into you?"