Chapter 38 · The Verdict

"Vale! Put that down!"

The elder slammed both palms against the glass.

Lucas didn't listen.

He ripped the silver crest from the dead badge. Leather snapped. The sharp edge cut his palm, and blood spilled over his fingers.

He kept walking.

"Lucas!"

He stopped beside me. His shoulder brushed mine. Blood dotted the floor between our boots.

Then he shoved the crest into my hand and closed my fingers around it.

The metal was warm.

His palm was warmer.

"This opens the command vault," he said. "Every order signed by the Vale council is in there."

I stared at the crest. "Including the order that branded me a terrorist?"

"Including that one."

"And your family?"

"They lose everything."

"Your rank?"

"Gone."

"Your life?"

His eyes locked onto mine. "Probably."

"That's not a verdict. That's a guess."

"Then choose one."

My fingers tightened around the crest. "Choose what?"

Lucas bent toward me.

His mouth stopped beside my ear. His breath burned over my skin, hot against the alarms screaming around us. I could hear the rough drag of every breath he took.

"You want to punish me? Do it." His fingers closed over mine. "You want to clear my name?