Chapter 11 Cracks In The Armor

• "Do you always have to be so damn cold?" My voice cracked through the stillness of the room, sharp and deliberate. I knew the words were risky, but after everything—being dragged into this mansion, caged like an animal, forced into submission—I couldn’t hold them back any longer.
• Alexander's wide shoulders tensed as though my words had struck him in the middle of his stride. His icy-blue eyes met mine as he slowly turned to face me. Only the uncompromising steel that had frightened me from the first time I had seen him was present; there was no warmth.. "And do you always have to be so reckless, Dysis?" His voice was calm, low, but laced with a warning I knew better than to ignore.
• I didn’t back down. Not this time. "Reckless? You think standing up for myself is reckless? Newsflash, Alexander, I’m not some puppet you can dangle on strings."