Chapter 53 · That Damn Smile

"Don't move, Cain. Not one step." Lila's voice cracked across the steel chamber before his boot could hit the next strip of red light.

Cain stopped.

A dozen rifles tracked him from the catwalks above. Black armor. White masks. The kind of soldiers who didn't need names because they expected to outlive everyone who met them.

Lila stood three feet in front of him, one hand wrapped around the control spike at her belt. Her other hand was pressed against Cain's chest.

Not hard. Not enough to hold him.

It didn't need to.

His whole body locked under her palm.

"You brought me into a killbox," he said.

"I brought you through a door. The killbox was already here."

"Same result."

"Then stop making it worse."

His gaze dropped to her hand. Her fingers were shaking against his shirt, but she kept them there. The contact burned through the layers between them. He could feel the quick jump of her pulse under her wrist.

She was scared.

She was still standing in front of him.

That made it worse.

A low laugh came from the far end of the chamber.

"There she is.