Chapter 64 · You just told me to save him

He looked over his shoulder. "You just told me to save him."

"Not like this."

"There isn't another way."

"You don't know that."

"I know exactly what this place does." He turned to face me. "It takes the ugliest choice in the room and calls it law."

He moved closer.

The front of his uniform brushed my shirt. His breath touched my lips. The cuff still held one arm above him, but he stood like the entire vault belonged to him.

Like I was the thing trapped inside it.

"Then break the law," I whispered.

His eyes held mine. "That's what I'm trying to do."

"By giving it your authority?"

"By trading it."

"For Noah?"

"For Noah's location." His gaze dropped to the contract mark between us. "After that, I lose the power to execute anyone under Crown law. Including you."

The words hit low and sharp.

I stared at him. "You had that power over me?"

"The contract gave it to me. The vault confirmed it."

"And you never told me."

"You wouldn't have signed.