Chapter 14 · You have blood on your face

His fingers stayed against her glove. "You have blood on your face."

"So do you."

"Mine looks better."

"You are one breath from death and still flirting."

"You keep getting close enough to hear it."

Her eyes held his.

The passage was too narrow. Her body pressed against his armor, not gently, but the heat between them still cut through the cold metal. Raven could feel her heartbeat against his chest where the tether joined them. Fast. Angry. Alive.

Then a bolt punched through the gate behind her.

Seraphina jerked around.

Raven rolled, pulling her beneath him as another bolt struck the passage wall.

"They made it through," she said.

"Of course they did."

"How many?"

"Too many."

"That answer is getting old."

He rose and pulled her upright. The passage sloped toward a maintenance hatch at the far end. A weak blue light pulsed beneath it.

"There," Raven said.

"Can you run?"

"Can you?"

"Ask me again and I'll stab you."

"That means yes."

They ran.

The tether turned every step into a shared punishment. Raven's wounded arm throbbed with Seraphina's bruised ribs. Her limp dragged at his leg.