Chapter 44 · Blood Echoes

"Get your hand off me, Cain, or I swear I’ll break your nose."

Lila’s boot slammed against his knee. Cain caught her ankle before the second strike landed, but the movement pulled him half off balance. His shoulder hit the metal door behind him. The old sheet of steel jumped in its frame.

Three bodies lay on the floor between them and the exit.

Two wore black hunter armor. The third wore a gray lab coat with a red access badge clipped to the chest. Blood ran from beneath his collar and spread in a thin line toward Lila’s boots.

Cain looked at the blood on his hand.

His fingers were steady. That bothered him more than the dead men.

"You were choking me," Lila snapped.

"He was behind you."

"And you couldn’t warn me?"

"You wouldn’t have listened."

"Try me."

Cain released her ankle.

Lila yanked her leg back and shoved both hands against his chest. He barely moved. His coat was torn at the shoulder, and heat rolled off him through the fabric. She had to tilt her head to glare at him.