Chapter 6 · Nine Minutes of Protection

"Take your hand off me," I snapped, even as Gabriel's fingers locked around my wrist.

His palm was hot against my skin. Blood from the cut in his side had soaked through his shirt and streaked across my hand, sealing the red mark beneath my palm.

"You put it there," he said.

"You shoved me into the line of fire."

"I pulled you out of it."

"Same room. Same gun. Don't expect gratitude."

His eyes dropped to the mark between us. The thin red lines had stopped crawling over my skin, but the debt cuff around my throat flashed once.

Then it beeped.

Not the soft warning from before.

This sound was sharp. Cold. Official.

Gabriel released my wrist and reached for the tablet on the desk. I grabbed it first.

The screen showed one line in white letters.

PROTECTED STATUS: 09:00 REMAINING.

My stomach tightened.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Gabriel's jaw flexed. "It means the seal is holding."

"That's not what I asked."

"It means nobody under my command can touch you for nine minutes."

"And after nine minutes?"

He took one step closer. His shoulder brushed mine.