Chapter 2

"Try it," he said.

I tasted blood. "You really enjoy this, don't you?"

"No. I enjoy quiet. You make that difficult."

He dragged me upright by the wrist. His coat brushed my shoulder. Cold metal, leather, and the sharp clean smell of gun oil clung to him. My pulse jumped for reasons I refused to examine.

I shoved against his chest.

He didn't move.

"Get off me."

"Stop reaching for the cuff."

"Then stop burning it into my neck."

His eyes dropped to the thin red line beneath my jaw. For half a second, his grip eased.

I saw it. The hesitation.

So did he.

His mouth went flat. "You signed the debt transfer."

"Julian signed it. Julian sold me. There's a difference."

"Your seal is on the last page."

"My seal was stolen."

"Prove it."

The answer sat behind my teeth. I couldn't prove anything with a collar choking my nerves and Gabriel's soldiers watching every door.

He knew that.

That was the whole point.

I yanked my wrist again. "You dragged me to a fortress, locked every exit, and put a restraint around my throat. Don't stand there pretending this is a courtroom."

"It's worse than a courtroom."

He leaned close enough that his breath touched my cheek.

"In a courtroom, you get to leave."

My stomach tightened. I hated the warmth of him. Hated that he could hold me still with one hand while I had to fight for every inch of air.

"You want me afraid?" I asked.

"I want you alive long enough to open the Stone vault."

There it was.

The first useful thing he'd said.

I stopped pulling.

Gabriel watched my face. "You heard me."

"I heard that you need me."

"I need your blood."

His thumb moved once over my pulse. Not gentle. Not quite cruel, either. A warning pressed into skin.

"The vault only answers to Stone blood," he said. "Your father left a key. Your family buried it under the northern mines. You will read it for me."

I laughed, though nothing about this was funny. "And if I don't?"

"The cuff tightens every six hours. The next setting will stop your heart for three seconds. The one after that may not let it restart."

"You put a death timer on me and call yourself reasonable?"

"I call myself generous."

"You call yourself whatever helps you sleep."

His gaze sharpened.

Good. I needed him angry. Angry men made mistakes.

"You won't open that vault without me," I said. "So unlock the cuff. Give me a room with a door that opens from the inside. And take your men out of my sight."

"You're negotiating from the floor."

"You're negotiating with the only person who can get what you want."

For a long second, only the low hum of the fortress generators filled the room.

Then Gabriel pulled me closer.

My back hit his chest. His arm locked around my waist, pinning me against him while his other hand lifted my chin. The collar dug into my skin.

"Don't confuse usefulness with power," he murmured.

His mouth was beside my ear. Too close. His voice traveled through me before I could shut it out.

I dug my heel into his boot.

"Don't confuse possession with control."

His arm tightened.

I felt the hard line of his body behind me. His hand spread over my ribs, holding me still without touching anything he didn't have to. That restraint made it worse. He could have hurt me. He chose not to.

That choice crawled under my skin.

"You keep testing the fence," he said.

"Maybe your fence is badly built."

"Maybe I should put you in a smaller cage."

"Maybe you should admit you're scared I’ll find out what happened to my father."

The room changed.

Not much. A pause. A shift in his breathing.

But I felt it.

Gabriel released my chin and shoved me away.

I caught myself against the table. "There you are."

"Watch your mouth."

"You knew him."

"Everyone in the border territories knew Marcus Stone."

"You knew him personally."

"That doesn't make me responsible for his choices."

"Did you kill him?"

A guard near the door moved his hand toward his rifle.

Gabriel lifted two fingers. The guard froze.

Gabriel came around the table. "Careful."

"Did you kill him?"

"No."

"Did you watch him die?"

His jaw flexed.

That was not a no.

I stepped toward him. The cuff pulsed against my throat, but I refused to slow down.

"What did he give you?"

"The key."

"A key to what?"

"The Stone reserve."

My father's private mining reserve had been sealed the night he died. Julian had claimed the records were destroyed. He'd told me there was nothing left but debt, lawsuits, and a dead company name.

Gabriel reached inside his coat and placed a thin metal case on the table.

"Your father gave me this."

The case was scratched along one edge. I knew that mark. My father used to tap the same corner against his desk when he was thinking.

My fingers curled.

"Open it," Gabriel said.

"You open it."

"It won't answer me."

"Then you're out of luck."

He pushed the case across the table. "The chip inside contains the vault map. Your blood will wake it."

"And after I open it?"

"You stay here until I confirm the reserve is real."

"So I'm still a prisoner."

"You're collateral."

"Pretty word. Same cage."

His eyes dropped to my throat again. "You want the cuff removed? Read the chip."

"You want the chip read? Give me the keycard to the east tower."

One of the guards snorted.

Gabriel didn't look away from me. "Why?"

"Because I need medical supplies. Your collar cut me."

"A medic can come here."

"No."

"No?"

"I don't want one of your armed men touching me."

His stare turned hot and heavy. "You'd rather I touch you?"

The question landed between us.

His voice had dropped. His face was close enough for me to see the tiny scar cutting through his lower lip. I could feel the heat of his palm before he even reached for me.

I lifted my chin.

"I’d rather bleed alone."

Something hard flashed in his eyes.

Then he pulled a keycard from his pocket and held it between two fingers.

"You get five minutes. Two guards follow."

"One guard."

"Two."

"Then no chip."

His thumb rubbed the edge of the card. "You think you can threaten me while wearing my collar?"

"I know I can. You just proved it."

He stepped in until my hips touched the table. The card pressed against my lower lip.

"Open the vault," he said, "and I might let you keep your family name."

I took the card from his hand with my teeth.

His gaze dropped to my mouth.

There. Another mistake.

I pulled the card free and smiled without warmth. "Try not to stare, Warlord. Someone might think you like your collateral."

His fingers closed around the back of my neck.

Not enough to hurt. Enough to remind me how easily he could.

"Keep provoking me, Elena."

"Keep giving me reasons."

For one dangerous second, his thumb rested under my jaw. His body blocked the guards' view. His breath moved over my face, warm against the cold metal at my throat.

Then he let go.

"East tower," he told the guards. "If she runs, break her legs."

"Touch me," I said, stepping away, "and your vault stays closed."

Gabriel's eyes cut to mine.

"No one touches you without my order."

The words should have sounded protective.

They sounded like ownership.

I hated that my body noticed the difference.

I took the card and walked toward the door before he could see it.

The corridor outside was narrow and bright with hard white lamps. Two soldiers followed. Gabriel came behind us, silent and close enough that I could feel him without looking.

At the first turn, I palmed the card against my thigh and slid a small medical blade from the supply tray mounted on the wall.

The nearest guard grabbed my elbow.

Gabriel's voice snapped through the corridor. "Remove your hand."

The guard released me so fast I almost stumbled.

I looked back.

Gabriel stood three steps away, shoulders squared, face empty.

"I can walk," I said.

"Then walk."

"You don't have to sound disappointed."

"I don't get disappointed."

"Right. You just threaten women and call it business."

His eyes went to the blade hidden against my palm.

My breath caught.

He'd seen it.

But he said nothing.

The east tower door opened with a heavy lock click. Beyond it, the fortress narrowed into a service passage. No windows. No cameras that I could see. The guards stopped at the threshold.

"Inside," Gabriel ordered.

I glanced at him. "You're not coming?"

"You wanted privacy."

"I wanted less of your men. I didn't ask for less of you."

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

His mouth twitched.

Not a smile. Something sharper.

"Careful, Elena."

"You keep saying that like it works."

I stepped inside and shut the door between us.

The lock clicked.

I counted to three.

Then I drove the medical blade into the dressing beneath my ribs.

Pain ripped through me. I bit down hard and peeled back the gauze. The small black identity chip was tucked beneath the adhesive, pressed into the cut Gabriel's men had stitched without asking.

Blood soaked my fingers.

"Damn it," I whispered.

The door handle moved.

I shoved the chip into my mouth just as Gabriel entered.

His stare dropped to the blood on my hand.

"What did you do?"

I swallowed the chip and leaned against the wall. "Got bored."

He crossed the passage in two strides. His hand clamped around my waist and pulled me away from the wall.

The movement opened my wound. I sucked in a breath.

His eyes changed when he saw it.

"You hid it from me."

"You hid my father's death from me. Fair trade."

"Spit it out."

"Make me."

His thumb pressed into my side, just above the wound. Heat shot through me. His face was inches from mine, his chest against my shoulder, his grip firm enough to keep me still and careful enough not to crush the stitches.

"You think I won't?"

"I think you need my blood more than you need your pride."

He stared at my mouth.

I could feel his breath now. Slow. Controlled. Mine was neither.

Then he reached past me and punched a code into the wall panel.

The metal case on the opposite table unlocked with a click.

"Use the chip," he said. "Now."

"And the cuff?"

"If the vault opens, I remove it."

"You swear?"

"I don't swear."

"Then no deal."

His hand slid higher on my waist. "You don't have a deal. You have one chance."

I stared at the open case. Inside sat a narrow black reader, already humming.

The chip burned against my tongue.

I took it out and pressed it into the slot.

The reader flashed once.

Then the wall screen came alive.

Lines of coded text rolled across it. Mine maps. Shipment routes. Dates. Payment records.

Gabriel leaned over my shoulder.

His body brushed mine from hip to shoulder. He was too close, but I stayed where I was. If I moved, he'd see how badly my hands shook.

"Read it," he said.

"I am."

"Faster."

"Shut up."

The screen stopped.

A single record filled the display.

NORTH MINE—NIGHT OF COLLAPSE.

I read the authorization line once.

Then again.

My fingers went cold.

"What is it?" Gabriel asked.

I pointed at the code.

The military clearance belonged to him.

GABRIEL VANCE—COMMAND ACCESS.

Below it sat a second name.

JULIAN MOORE.

My stomach dropped.

"You were there," I said.

Gabriel's hand closed around my hip. "Elena—"

"You used your command code inside the mine the night my father died."

"That record is altered."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to stop touching the screen."

I looked at him. "Why? Afraid I'll find the part where you ordered the collapse?"

His grip tightened. "Move away from the reader."

"Tell me what Julian was doing with your code."

"I said move."

"You knew him. You worked with him. You sold me to pay a debt you helped create."

His face went still.

That was answer enough.

I ripped the chip from the reader.

The screen shrieked. Red lights flashed across the fortress walls.

Gabriel reached for me.

I twisted away and shoved the chip into my fist.

"Give it to me," he ordered.

"Come take it."

The east tower exploded.

Stone and glass blasted through the passage. Gabriel grabbed me and drove my body beneath his, shielding my head as the cannon struck again.

The floor bucked.

My fist opened against his chest.

The chip skittered away, but something else caught in my palm—a black military code strip torn from the inside of his coat.

Rifles rose through the smoke beyond the broken tower wall.

Not his soldiers.

Their barrels aimed at Gabriel first.

Then at me.

Gabriel lifted his head, blood running from his temple.

"Elena, don't move."

I curled my fingers around his code strip and pressed the chip against my other palm.

"Why are they aiming at both of us?"