Chapter 17 · The Name Reina Screams

"Get up."

I hooked my fist in Reina's collar and dragged her off the floor before the smoke cleared from her hands. Her boots slipped on the stone. She tried to plant one knee, but I slammed her against the wall instead.

"Who gave you the chain?" I kept my forearm across her chest. "Who's Shadow?"

Her breath came in short, ragged pulls. Burnt skin and copper stung my nose.

"I don't know."

"Try again."

"I said I don't know."

"You just burned through your own access to stop a bomb." I leaned closer. Blood vessels had burst in her left eye. "People don't do that for a stranger. So tell me who you're protecting."

Her jaw locked. She looked past me at the dead trigger chain, its blackened links scattered across the floor.

"Reina."

"That's not my name."

The words hit harder than the wall had.

I didn't loosen my grip. "What did you say?"

A broken laugh scraped out of her. "You heard me."

"Say it again."

"My name is Veyra Ansley." She finally looked at me. Her eyes were flat, but her pulse jumped beneath the skin of her throat.