Chapter 13 · The Warrant at His Throat

"You have three seconds to unlock me, Ronin, or I start screaming that you kidnapped me."

Ronin's hand closed around the key at his belt.

The red alarm kept flashing over his face. Every pulse painted him in blood-colored light, making the cut across his mouth look worse than it was. Or maybe I was just hoping it looked worse. The man had been bleeding against my skin five seconds ago, and now he was standing there like a tribunal warrant was a minor inconvenience.

"Scream," he said. "The first squad through that door will shoot you before they ask why."

"Then unlock me."

"You can barely stand."

"And you can barely breathe. We both have problems."

His eyes dropped to the iron cuff biting my wrist into the bed frame. Then they lifted back to mine.

"You still think this is the part where you give orders?"

"No. This is the part where I remind you that if they drag me out of here, Kyle gets me."

The warning siren punched through the walls. Beyond the steel door, boots hammered across the corridor. A voice shouted through the intercom again.

"Commander Ronin Varga!