Adriel POV
"Get your hands off her before I snap your wrist."
I didn't blink. My fingers gripped the brass handle of my bedroom door, the cold metal cutting into my palm. The corridor was silent, smelling of stale plaster and the faint, bitter tang of Betty’s fading heat.
Adriel. Is everything fine? We are entering the castle now.
My father's voice slammed into my head like an iron wedge. The mindlink was heavy, thick with the scent of pine and old blood that always trailed his thoughts. It made my skull throb behind my eyes.
Yes, I snapped back, my jaw tightening until a muscle leaped in my cheek. Everything is okay. Come on in.
I pushed my bedroom door open. The hinges gave a dry, high-pitched screech.
Mitchell, everyone else are coming into the castle now, just so you know, I sen
