Chapter 50 · Forbidden Pact

"Don't move, Cain."

His hand stopped an inch from Lila's throat.

The command hit him so hard his fingers locked. His arm shook. Metal joints clicked under his skin, fighting the order that had come through the black control band around his wrist.

Lila didn't waste the opening. She ducked, drove her shoulder into his ribs, and slammed him against the cracked concrete wall.

"I said don't move!"

Cain's boots scraped across the floor. He could have thrown her through the door. He could have broken her grip with two fingers.

Instead, he stared down at her.

Her fist was twisted in the front of his jacket. Her face was close enough for him to feel her breath against his jaw. Fast. Warm. Angry.

"You put the command in my head," he said.

"You were about to tear apart three guards."

"They were aiming at you."

"And you were going to level the whole market to catch me."

Cain's eyes dropped to her mouth for half a second.

Lila noticed. Of course she did. Her grip tightened.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're deciding whether to bite me or kill me."

"I don't bite people."

"Good.