He trailed off, seeing me for the first time, and his eyes went wide. “Sebastian,” he whispered, his voice laced with shock. There was a single heartbeat of silence, and then his mouth curled in a snarl. “You son of a—”

“Williams!” Martin snapped, stopping him midlunge. Williams froze, still glaring at me with darkest hate, one hand halfway to his sidearm. “Stand down, soldier,” Martin ordered in a low, firm voice. “I brought him here. Sebastian is with me.”

“Sir.” Williams turned to Martin, aghast. His mouth opened, probably to snap at his superior officer, before he seemed to remember himself and straightened. “Permission to speak freely, sir.”

“If you must.”

“Sir, why is the dragonlover here?”

Martin gave a wry curl of his lip. “That’s more of a question, soldier. Are you questioning me?”

“No, sir! But—”

“Sebastian is here for a reason. That’s all you need to know right now.” Martin’s dark gaze remained fixed on the other soldier. “I will not have a riot in these halls, nor will I have Sebastian come to harm while he is here. You will keep yourself under control, and you will trust that your superior officer knows what he is doing. Is that understood, soldier?”

“I...” Williams shot one last, murderous glare at me, then nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Martin turned from the soldier, dismissing him, and glanced at me. “Let’s go, Sebastian.”

We left Williams glowering in the hall and entered the assembly room through the back door, stepping onto the stage. As Martin and I walked to the front of the platform, I looked over the floor and saw the surprised faces of my former brothers turn to outrage as they recognized me. Furtively, I scanned the room, taking stock of who was there, looking for someone in particular. It took me only a moment to spot him. On the far side of the room, leaning with his back to the wall, Tristan St. Anthony raised his head and met my gaze, dark eyes narrowing to slits.

“You all know who this is.” Martin’s voice wasn’t a question, carrying into the tense silence.

“The fucking dragonlover!” someone in the back shouted.