Page 5 of The Obedient Lie
Loaded.
“And now they think we’re handing you off to the Crows like some kind of truce flag.”
“I kissed themonce,” I said quietly.
“No,” he said. “Youchosethem. In front of the world. And you don’t just walk away from that.”
“I kissed them once,” I repeated. “That doesn’t define me.”
“No. But itexposedyou.”
He didn’t speak for a long time after that. Just stood there. Watching me like I was a weapon someone else had fired.
“Are you okay?” he asked, finally—soft, like itcostedhim something.
I nodded.
He turned toward the door.
“When the test comes,” he said, “for what side you’re on…” He paused. Looked back once. “…I expect you tohold the line.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Rumors say a few families want to test exactly how far this goes.”
“Areyougoing to stop them?”
“Maybe I need to know too,” he said.
That landed harder than anything else.
But I didn’t chase him.
Didn’t beg him to understand.
Didn’t tell himwhyI had done it.
Didn’t make him see my side.
Because my brother wouldn’t defendme. He would defend thefamily. The hardest part was accepting he was right. I’d given up the right to my own choice a long time ago.
Chapter Three
EMILIA
The test came quietly. No declaration. No war horn. Just a broken pipe. A flood that hit my dorm room like divine punishment— soaking half my closet, destroying my textbooks, shorting the outlets.
The Academy said it was maintenance error.
No one said it out loud. But everyone knew. This wasn’t random. Someone wanted me out. And someone else wanted me…here.
I stared at the reassignment form in my hand.
Three names typed at the top.
Bastion Crow. Luca Crow. Emilia Adams.
My stomach dropped. One kiss. Well technically two and it was going to ruin my semester. I wanted to groan.
