Chapter 19 · The Name in the Breach

"You have ten minutes to prove that recording is real, or the council convicts you before lunch."

Councilor Venn slapped a folder against the table and fixed me with a cold stare.

"Convicts me of what?"

"Sabotage. Illegal access to sealed archives. Assaulting a city guard." He tapped the folder. "Take your pick, Miss Hart. We have witnesses for all three."

"You forgot obstruction," another councilor said. "She refused a direct order from the Warden."

Kane stood behind my chair, close enough for his body heat to brush the back of my neck. One hand rested on the table beside mine.

Not touching.

Almost worse.

"Your witnesses are a guard carrying a forged bureau key and a clerk who deleted half the archive," I said. "That's not exactly a clean case."

Venn's mouth tightened. "You broke into restricted property with the Warden's private seal."

"The Warden came with me."

"He was manipulated."

Kane's fingers pressed into the wood.

"Careful," he said.

Every voice in the chamber died.

Venn turned toward him. "Are you threatening the council, Warden?"

"No. I'm warning you not to call my judgment impaired because you don't like the evidence.