Chapter 16 · Whispers of the Core

"Stop pretending you're the victim, Nova. It doesn't suit you."

Kael’s voice was a low vibration against my ear, his chest pressing me hard into the cold metal of the desk. He had my wrists pinned behind my back, and the grip was just shy of bruising. I could smell the ozone and expensive soap clinging to him—the scent of a man who had never spent a single night sleeping in the dirt, which was exactly why I wanted to scream in his face.

"I'm not pretending," I spat, twisting my head to glare at him. "I'm bleeding. There's a difference."

"You're bleeding because you tried to steal something that doesn't belong to you," he countered. He leaned in closer, his breath warm against my neck, sending a traitorous shiver down my spine. "Tell me why you were in the restricted archive. Now."

I let out a sharp, jagged laugh. "Maybe I just missed the smell of old parchment and failure. Does that satisfy your curiosity, Golden Boy?"

Kael didn't flinch. Instead, he shifted his weight, pressing his thigh firmly between mine. The power imbalance was suffocating.