Chapter 30

Ronan's POV

Soren stared at the wax impression on the message strip, and the explanation I expected from him never came.

Tamsin drew her sword. The small scrape of steel made Vivian step back from the open wall, but Soren did not move. I watched his hands. His fingers were clean except for the black ink he always managed to get into the creases, and he held them away from the bell as if even an innocent touch would condemn him.

“Is that yours?” Mara asked.

“It is my signature cipher.”

She studied the strip instead of his face. “Did you send this?”

“No.”

The bell gave a thin, almost inaudible shiver. My blood seal answered it beneath the cooling salve, and I caught the edge of the examination table before my knees could betray me.