Chapter 33 · “The case is trapped.” “Can you disarm it?”

“The case is trapped.”

“Can you disarm it?”

“Yes.”

“Then do it.”

“If I fail, the core burns.”

“And if we leave it?”

“Jace gets worse.”

“Then don’t fail.”

Cain looked at her over his shoulder. “You make that sound simple.”

“It’s not simple. It’s the only choice.”

He knelt before the case and pressed two fingers to the floor. Thin blue lines lit beneath the dust, spreading toward his boots.

Lila crouched beside him. “What are you doing?”

“Listening.”

“To the floor?”

“To the lock.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense to you.”

“Everything has to make sense to me. I’m the one who has to carry the data back.”

“If the core survives.”

“Cain.”

“Quiet.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it. The lines under his hand shifted from blue to red.

Cain’s fingers curled.

“Tell me what’s happening.”

“The case is scanning me.”

“For what?”

“Authorization.”

“And?”

“It found something.”

A click sounded inside the case.

Cain’s eyes snapped toward the door.

Lila heard it too. Boots. Far above them. More than one set.

“They’re inside,” she whispered.

“Not yet.”

The boots multiplied.