Chapter 27 · The Crown Vessel

"What did my mother mean by crown vessel?" Carson caught my wrist before I could reach the recorder.

His fingers locked around me. Hard. Possessive. The contract had already made his hands dangerous, and we both knew it.

I looked at his grip, then up at his face. "You tell me. You're the one with royal blood in your family tree."

"Don't play games with me, Ivy."

"I'm not playing. I'm trying to keep you alive."

That stopped him.

Only for half a second, but I felt it. His thumb stopped pressing against my pulse.

Behind us, the hidden recorder clicked.

A red light blinked beside the copy port. One cable ran from the old machine into the cracked stone console. The other led to the recorder I'd pulled from beneath the floor.

My mother's voice had cut off before she could explain the warning. The copy was still running. Thin blue lines crawled across the console while the tower groaned around us.

Carson tightened his grip. "Keep me alive from what?"

"From the people who signed your death order."