Chapter 9

Mara's POV

The first man to try to collar me lost the collar. Ronan took the man. He moved so quickly that I only saw the result: one Concord officer on the floor, Ronan's forearm across his throat, and the silver restraint skidding beneath a table. The great hall exploded.

"Black Hollow, hold the doors!" Tamsin shouted.

Lucien shifted halfway, claws tearing through his sleeves. Gideon grabbed Vivian and dragged her behind the overturned hearing table. Darius screamed, "By Concord authority, seize the Unbound!" Half his own officers hesitated.

"Nobody has to obey him," I shouted.

Three Concord guards faltered. One lowered his blade; another looked at his own hands, breathing hard, before backing away from the fight. The third still came toward us. Darius's face twisted with rage.