Chapter 6 · Price of the Bind

"You’re lying."

I didn't scream it. I couldn't. My voice sounded like it had been dragged through gravel—thin, shaking. I tried to push away, but my back hit the cold metal of the bulkhead. Hard.

Cain didn't budge. He stayed right there, chest nearly touching mine, his shadow swallowing me whole in the dim emergency light. He didn't look smug. He looked bored. Which was a thousand times worse.

"I don't lie, Lyra. Waste of breath," he said. His voice was a low vibration I felt in my own ribs. "Your brother didn't get snatched. No rogue cell. No kidnapping. He signed the contract. He took the credits. And then he started hunting people just like you."

I felt the air leave my lungs. "No. Not Leo."

"Leo's a lot of things," Cain murmured, leaning closer. I could smell ozone and expensive tobacco clinging to his gear. "But loyal? Not to a sister who’s a walking power plant for the Council. He knows exactly what your core is worth on the black market. He’s not a victim, sweetheart. He’s a competitor."

I swung.

No plan, no calculation. Just a raw, desperate slap. *Crack.*

His head snapped to the side.