Chapter 58 · Which Heart?

"Because it can't reach you directly anymore."

The words froze my blood.

I stared at the throne. Its crystal teeth had spread wider, revealing a pale light twisted around something that looked horribly like a heart.

Carson pulled my hand against his chest.

"It made me the bridge," he said. "You cut through me, you cut through it."

"And if I refuse?"

His fingers tightened around mine. "It keeps taking pieces of you until you can't remember why you refused."

Another memory ripped free.

Carson stood on the tribunal steps, sliding the marriage ring onto my finger while the crowd screamed traitor.

The ring's edge bit cold into my skin.

His mouth brushed my ear.

"Smile, Mercer. They want to see you break."

Then the memory twisted.

His hand hadn't been steady. His thumb had brushed mine twice, quick and hidden from the crowd.

A warning.

A promise.

Or another lie.

The throne burned the memory away.

I gasped. The blade nearly slipped from my hand.

Carson caught my elbow. "What did it take?"

"The tribunal.