Then, in a flash, it’s gone. Cut off, like a switch flipped.
The room is silent.
But my bride mark goes cold, too, the light snuffed out.
I collapse against Rythar. He catches me, one arm around my back, the other hand cradling my head, his mouth against my hair. He's saying something. I can't hear it over the ringing in my ears.
"I asked it to stop," I whisper into his chest. "Sophia's fear. I couldn't take it. And the Stone took everything." I press my hand flat against him so he can see the dark mark on my finger. "You, too." He wanted me forever, and now the connection is dark.
Rythar’s arms tighten. “I was built to shield you.” His voice drops. “But something reached you, anyway.”
When the shaking eases enough for me to move, he lifts me without comment and carries me to the healing pool. He washes me, never breaking contact, never looking away.
When it’s time to dress, he stays close, steadying my hands, fastening what I can’t manage. He moves with quiet purpose, already thinking past the moment.
“Can the Stone take me away from you?” I whisper.
He sits me on the bed again, his thumbs resting gently on my collarbones as he squats in front of me. “Elena. Look at me. The Stone cannot force a choice,” he says. “And it cannot erase one. But the Stone can make us pay for it. The Concord Council can make us pay for it.”
“But the bride mark. It’s dim again,” I say weakly.
“The bride marks are unprecedented. We do not understand them. Perhaps it means nothing.” We lie down together. With each minute that passes, I feel myself relax more.
Things are going to be ok, I tell myself.
Then the alarms hit.
CHAPTER 23
ACCUSATION
ELENA – THE MATING CHAMBER
The whole chambervibrates as the alarms sound. Red lights strobe against the ceiling and every surface—stone, towels, even the water in the pool.
Rythar’s on his feet in a single motion, dragging me with him. He doesn’t let go, not even to dress, just scoops me up with one arm and moves to the side of the chamber. He’s naked, but he doesn’t care. The air is sharp with a new scent. If the mating chamber was designed for intimacy, the sudden shift is meant to kill it fast.
A seam opens in the stone. Rythar steps through, still hauling me, into a narrow corridor lined with pulsing lights. He slams his hand against a panel. From the wall, a rack slides out with his armor. He drops me on my feet, never taking his eyes off the corridor’s far end, and yanks the armor on in seconds. I’m still reeling when he turns to me, voice far too calm for what I feel.
“You are safe by my side. Stay with me,” he commands.
I’m not about to argue. “Where are we going?”
Rythar answers with clipped words. “Command Center.”
He leads me down the corridor, moving fast enough that I’m breathing hard to keep up.
We reach an intersection. Two guards wait there, armored and helmeted, weapons drawn, pointed carefully away from us. Rythar grunts, and they fall in line behind us.
We take three more turns, then emerge into a chamber that’s nothing like the rest of the fortress. There’s no pretense of a primitive cover here. This is all metal and black and harsh lights. There’s a single table ringed with chairs. The air here is cool and dry.
Rythar leads me to the head of the table, plants me there with a hand on my shoulder. He stands in front of me, looming, with the two guards posted at the doors. Other warriors filter in, surrounding me.
Then Vorak enters. His armor is darker than Rythar's, a deep green-black that eats the light. He brings no warriors. He brings something else—a holographic projection.
Light gathers above the table and resolves into the shape of a seated male. There is no chair in the projection, so it looks like he sits on nothing. It’s not just an image. It’s a presence. When it comes alive, the feeling of a growing storm pushes at my mind. I know this presence. It pressed against the web in my dream. I’m frozen, watching as the guards drop to one knee. Rythar does not kneel. He inclines his head in a formal nod. "High Lord," Rythar says.
Vorak surveys the room, then fixes on what he can see of me behind Rythar.
