Chapter 7 · The Heir Exposed

Lucas slammed his shoulder into the hatch. “Stay behind me.”

The metal buckled.

Light punched through the gap. So did the roar of hundreds of voices.

Lucas shoved through first. I followed with my hood pulled low, cameras already hovering above the public command chamber. Officers packed the balconies. Senior wardens ringed the circular floor, waiting for someone to fall.

Me, if the high warden got his way.

Lucas slowed. His hand brushed mine, then closed around my wrist.

“Don’t look up,” he murmured.

“Then stop walking me into a room full of cameras.”

“At least pretend you trust me.”

“I’ll start pretending when you stop hiding things.”

The high warden stood at the far end of the chamber, one hand resting on the rail of the central dais. His black command coat made him look carved from the cold stone behind him.

His eyes found me at once.

“Warden Vale,” he called. “You were ordered to deliver the terrorist to containment.”

Lucas didn’t stop. “The order changed.”

A restless murmur rolled through the room.

The high warden’s mouth tightened. “By whose authority?”

“Mine.”

“You don’t have that authority.”

“I do under emergency protection law.