Chapter 36 · Choose Again

"Neither do you."

The black mark raced across my wrist, hot and sharp as a brand. Beneath us, the archive crown answered with a pulse of red light.

For one second, Carson's arm dropped.

Then the royal command slammed through both of us.

His body snapped upright. His shoulder locked. The seal-stamp rose between our faces.

I drove my knee into his thigh.

He grunted, but his grip on my wrist didn't loosen.

"Move," he snarled.

"Make me."

"Ivy."

"You want to be my husband? Act like one."

His hand twisted—not away from me, but toward the floor.

The seal-stamp struck the black stone beside my boot.

A blast punched through the archive. Loose pages flew. Shelves shook hard enough to rattle their chains. The crown pedestal cracked beneath my other hand.

Carson dropped to one knee.

I went down with him, still gripping his marked wrist. His shoulder slammed into my stomach.