"NO!"
The roar tore from Lord Valerius's throat, vibrating against my chest as he tackled me to the marble floor.
The heavy, crushing weight of the Time Lord shielded me completely. The sharp smell of ozone from the laser-rifles filled the air, mixing with the rich, terrifying scent of his sandalwood and smoke cologne.
He's going to crush my ribs, my panicked mind screamed. I gasped for air underneath him. But as my cheek pressed against the dark silk of his suit, I felt something impossible.
His heart was beating against my chest. Fast. Frantic. And the terrifying part? It was beating in the exact same rhythm as mine. We were perfectly, flawlessly synced.
"Hold your fire!" the captain of the guard shouted, his voice cracking with pure confusion. "Stand down! Do not shoot!"
The sound of twelve heavy rifles lowering echoed in the massive vault.
Valerius didn't move immediately. He stayed draped over me, his face buried in my neck, taking a deep, shuddering breath. I could feel his massive frame trembling. He isn't saving me, I realized, staring blankly at the ceiling. He's saving himself.
Slowly, the Time Lord pushed himself up. His face, which had been pale with panic just seconds ago, locked into a mask of cold, terrifying authority. He grabbed the collar of my jacket and hauled me to my feet with brutal strength, keeping my body tucked slightly behind his own.
"My Lord," the captain stammered, his eyes darting between Valerius and the shattered glass box on the pedestal. "The crystal... the thief... why did you....."
"The crystal is gone," Valerius cut him off. His voice was like a whip cracking in the silent room. "Its energy has transferred. The girl is now the vessel."
The captain blinked, completely lost. "The... vessel, sir? Should we take her to the extraction chambers and drain her?"
I tensed, preparing to fight. But Valerius's grip on my arm tightened like a vice.
"If any of you touch a single hair on her head, I will age you to dust," Valerius said softly. The threat was so quiet, so deadly, that the guards actually took a physical step back. "She is coming with me. If anyone outside this room learns that the vault was breached tonight, you will all pay with your lifespans. Are we clear?"
"Crystal clear, My Lord!" the guards shouted in unison, saluting by placing a fist over their hearts.
Valerius didn't wait. He dragged me past them, his long strides forcing me to practically jog to keep up. We moved out of the vault and down a long, gilded hallway. My mind was spinning. The golden magic still buzzed under my skin, making me feel invincible, but the iron grip on my arm reminded me I was still a prisoner.
He shoved me into a private glass elevator at the end of the hall. The doors slid shut, cutting us off from the guards.
The moment we were completely alone, his iron grip vanished.
Valerius stumbled away from me, hitting the glass wall of the elevator. He looked sick. He ripped off his expensive tie and unbuttoned his collar, gasping for air.
"What did you do to me?" he growled. His glowing amber eyes flashed with a dangerous, cornered-animal panic.
"I didn't do anything!" I yelled back, rubbing my bruised arm. "I just broke the glass so I wouldn't die!"
He pulled a small, silver pocketknife from inside his jacket.
He's going to kill me anyway, my mind screamed. I pressed my back flat against the elevator doors, bracing for the strike.
But he didn't lunge at me. He flipped the blade and pressed it against the pale skin of his own left forearm. Without blinking, he dragged the metal across his flesh.
I gasped. A sharp, burning sting ripped across my left arm.
I looked down, my eyes widening in absolute horror. A thin, perfectly straight cut had just sliced open my sleeve. Blood mixed with a faint, glowing gold mist beaded on my skin.
Valerius stared at my bleeding arm, his chest heaving. His own matching wound was already closing, feeding off the stolen centuries of time I had just swallowed.
"A sympathetic tether," he whispered, his voice completely hollow. "My life is bound to a zero-hour street rat."
"If you let me go, I'll disappear," I promised, my voice shaking uncontrollably. "I'll go back to the slums. You'll never see me again."
He let out a dark, bitter laugh that sent shivers down my spine. "If you go back to the slums, Kaelia, you will be dead in a week. And if you die, I die."
The elevator dinged, stopping at the penthouse level.
"So what are you going to do with me?" I asked, my blood turning to ice again.
Valerius straightened his ruined suit. The panic in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, ruthless calculation. The Devil was back.
"I am going to hide you," he said softly, grabbing my arm again as the glass doors opened. "In the one place in Aethelgard where my enemies would never think to look for filth like you. You are going to the Chronos Academy."
My stomach plummeted. The Academy wasn't a school. It was a slaughterhouse where the rich fought for lifespans.
"I won't survive a day in there!" I yelled, digging my heels into the floor.
Valerius stopped and looked back at me. His amber eyes were completely dead.
"Then you better learn to fight. Because if you bleed, I bleed."