Chapter 16 · Bound to the Executioner: Leveling Up With My Enemy - Chapter 16: Red Alarm Lockdown

"Get your face in the dirt. Now!"

Soren’s hand didn't just grab my shoulder; he slammed me downward, my cheek hitting the grit of the warehouse floor with a bone-jarring thud. Before I could even blink, his heavy boot was pressing into the small of my back, pinning me flat.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed, my voice muffled by the dust. "I just saved your damn life!"

"Shut up if you want to keep your tongue," Soren snarled. His voice was a low, dangerous vibration right above my ear.

Above us, the air screamed. A high-pitched, mechanical whine tore through the ceiling, and a red strobe light began pulsing, turning the dim warehouse into a rhythmic nightmare of blood-colored flashes. A Bounty Drone. Small, sleek, and carrying enough firepower to vaporize a city block—or at least one rogue medic.

"Target acquired," the drone’s synthetic voice echoed, cold and devoid of emotion. "Illegal Archon signature detected. Commencing lethal neutralization."

"Neutralization?" I gasped, trying to squirm under his boot. "Soren, move! It’s going to blast us both!"

"Stay. Still." He didn't move his foot.