Chapter 9 · The Other Cade

"You're bleeding."

I look down. Iris is right. Blood's soaking through my left sleeve where the ricochet caught me two loops ago. Or was it three? The reset doesn't heal old wounds anymore. It just stacks them.

"I'm fine," I say.

"You're not." She's already tearing a strip off her jacket. Her hands are steady now, steadier than mine. "Sit."

"We don't have time."

"Sit, Cade."

I sit. She wraps the fabric tight around my bicep, and I don't make a sound, but she sees my jaw lock. She always sees.

"How many times have you died?" she asks.

I watch the hallway behind her. Floor 12. The wall that lifted. The door that shouldn't exist. "Enough."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

She ties off the bandage hard enough to hurt. "You don't trust me."

"I don't trust anyone."

"But you kept me alive." Her eyes lock on mine. "Why?"

Because you took the shot. Because you ripped the link out of your own neck and bled for me.