Chapter 25 · Uninvited Guests

"You need to leave. Right now." The girl in the Hive uniform grabbed Lila's wrist and tried to pull her back toward the gate.

Lila jerked free. "You said this was safe."

"I said nothing was safe." The girl's face had gone pale. Her eyes kept jumping to Cain. "And he's not supposed to be here."

Cain stepped in front of Lila before the girl could reach for her again. His bloody palm closed around the front of the uniform jacket. He lifted the girl just enough to put her boots against the floor on their toes.

"Take your hands off her," Lila snapped.

Cain didn't look at her. "She touched you."

"I noticed. Put her down."

The girl clawed at Cain's wrist. "If you kill me, every door in this level locks. The guards will flood the corridor in under thirty seconds."

"Then talk faster," Cain said.

The white-coated man behind her smiled like none of that surprised him. He stood beneath the red scanner light, one hand tucked into his coat pocket, the other holding a slim black tablet.

"Cain," he said.