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The restraints around my wrists flared.

Red shot up my arms. My knees hit the stones before I could lock them. The sword fell from my hand, and the order pushed deeper, forcing my head down.

Adrian walked towards the gap.

Every part of me fought to stand. My muscles locked harder. The skin around the restraints split, and blood ran into my palms.

“Stellan, move!” Bryony shouted.

“Can’t.” The word came out between my teeth. “Close it.”

Adrian reached the threshold. “She won’t shut you out.”

The throne-room doors slammed between us.

One caught the edge of Adrian’s coat. He cut the cloth free with the dagger before the stone could crush his arm. The instant the doors met, the pressure on my body broke.

I grabbed my sword and got to my feet.

Bryony stood on the other side of the silver line, both hands pressed to the wall. Her breathing was rough, and sweat shone along her hairline.

“You shut me out,” I said.

“You told me to.”

She lifted her chin, daring me to regret the order.

“I know.” Pride hit me so hard it almost covered the fear. “Thank you.”

A blade scraped against the closed doors. White sparks spat from the join.

I dragged the two bodies clear while Bryony kept her palms on the stone. The cut in my arm had already begun to close. The blood from my wrists hadn’t.

“Can he force them open?” she asked.

“With that dagger, yes.”

The sparks spread another few inches along the join.

“How long?”

I watched the sparks spread. “A few minutes if Harrowmere keeps fighting him. Less if it doesn’t.”

“Then we don’t waste them.” She looked towards Lenora’s passage. “We hold the throne room or the royal rooms?”

The royal rooms had thicker walls but only one exit. I couldn’t leave her trapped if Adrian got past me.

“You go back to your room. I’ll hold this line. Adrian sent that vampire straight at you.”

“No. The house stopped him because I was here. If I hide, you lose the only defence he can’t predict.”

She didn’t pretend she could fight or reach for the fallen axe. She’d found the job only she could do, and I still wanted her locked somewhere safe.

“If those restraints flare again, I may not be able to warn you,” I said. “You close the nearest door. You don’t come after me, and you don’t touch me while Adrian has control.”

Pain crossed her face. “Because you could hurt me.”

“Yes.”