Chapter 36 · The Plastic God

"Put the knife down, Sera." August stood behind us with one hand raised, smiling like he had just walked into his own living room. "You really don't want to make this worse."

Kael's arm locked across my chest before I could turn. His other hand pressed a blade under my jaw. Not hard enough to cut. More than hard enough to remind me who had the better position.

I felt his breath against my temple. Warm. Steady. Annoyingly calm.

"Take your arm off me," I said.

"You heard him. Drop it."

"I wasn't talking to the shiny fraud."

Kael's grip tightened. "Sera."

The knife at my throat moved a fraction higher.

August laughed softly. "Still mouthing off while cornered. I almost missed that."

"You missed plenty while sitting on your golden chair." I kept my eyes on the sanctuary door ahead of us. It was sealed with three layers of light, each one pulsing beneath the cracked marble. "Like the fact that your guards are dead."

"Dead isn't the same as defeated."

"Tell that to the ones cooling under your altar."

Kael shifted behind me.