Chapter 5 · What the Bandage Was Hiding

The cage door dropped and the bolt shot home. Levi Grant was still on the gurney rail, my forearm still across his collarbone, and the camera light over the door was still red. The file was on the floor where he had dropped it. Unsigned.

"Last chance," I said. My teeth were at the break of his gland and they had not broken skin. "You can still pick up the pen."

He did not reach for it. His pulse slammed against my wrist, too fast for a man who wanted me to believe he was done fighting. The steel at his back was cold. My knee stayed on the rail. I did not close the last inch.

"Sign it," I told him, "or I leave the mark while the camera is still running. Those are the only two lines left on this page."

His mouth opened on my name and stopped. The bolt stayed shut. The red light stayed red. His hands stayed empty.

Sign it, or I leave the mark now.