Chapter 16 · Thirty Seconds

"Don't touch that key, Elena." Gabriel's hand closed over mine before my fingers reached the console.

The blast timer screamed from the wall.

03:00.

His palm was hot against my knuckles. Blood had soaked through the side of his shirt, dark and sticky, and the smell of iron filled the control room. Behind us, the tunnel groaned. Dust shook loose from the ceiling and pattered over the steel floor.

"Then stop putting it in my hand," I snapped.

Gabriel looked down at the key between us. It was narrow, black, and cut from the same dull metal as the control console. A thin red line pulsed along its teeth.

"You think I gave you a choice?"

"No. I think you like pretending you do."

His jaw tightened.

The blast timer dropped to 02:47.

Somewhere past the sealed door, men shouted. The voices came through the rock in broken pieces.

"The east tunnel's down!"

"We still have miners in Section Four!"

"Gas is moving through the lower cut!"

My grip tightened around the key.

Gabriel caught my wrist and dragged me away from the console. His shoulder slammed into the steel cabinet behind him.