The roar in the courtroom was a tidal wave crashing against stone walls. The judge slammed his gavel repeatedly, but the sound was drowned out by the hysterical whispers of journalists and the frantic shouting of lawyers. In the center of the storm, I stood in the witness box, my breathing slow and controlled, even though I knew my heart was dancing at a dangerous pace.
115 bpm.
I could feel a phantom vibration on my collarbone, where the tracking device used to sit. Even though the hardware was gone, I felt as if Adrian could still read me. I turned to look at him. Adrian sat motionless, his obsidian eyes shimmering with a mixture of pride and pure terror. He knew what I had just done. I had burned my final bridge to the normal world just to step into his fire.
"Silence! Order in the c
