Page 194 of Maksym

Sloan’s breath hitched. “Bound.”

A stir moved across the dais.

Grace did not look away from Sloan. “How?”

“Wrists. Ankles. She was trying to get loose, but she couldn’t.”

Maddie made no sound. Neither did Nikolay.

I knew that kind of silence from battlefields after the screaming stopped.

“What was Sage Lynch doing when you arrived?”

Sloan’s face crumpled.

“He was standing over her.”

“Was anything in his hand?”

“I saw a knife near him. In his hand or on the altar, I don’t—” The spell hummed sharply. Sloan winced. “In his hand. I think it was in his hand.”

“What happened next?”

Sloan stared at Maddie.

The entire chamber seemed to lean away from the answer before it came.

“Maddie screamed Nikolay’s name again.”

Grace’s expression did not change.

“And Sage?”

Sloan’s lips shook so badly the first words failed.

Grace did not rescue her.

Sloan forced them out.

“He hit her.”

Maddie closed her eyes.

Nikolay’s folded hands tightened over Maddie’s until one knuckle split. A bead of blood appeared, bright against pale skin, and healed almost as quickly.

“Describe the strike,” Grace said.

Ironwood’s counsel stood. “Objection. Asked and answered.”

“No,” Grace said, turning toward the Magistrate with perfect calm. “It has not been answered. The witness has stated that he hit her. The nature of the strike is relevant to whether Sage Lynch was engaged in consensual ritual or violent coercion in the moments before Prince Nikolay arrived.”

The Magistrate’s gaze moved from Grace to Sloan.

“Overruled. The witness will answer.”

Sloan’s voice broke apart.

“Open hand. Hard. Across the face. Her head snapped to the side.”