Chapter 19 · Rigged Clock

"Stop talking and just take the damn codes!" Vera slammed her back against the sealed bulkhead, her breath coming in jagged, shallow hitches.

Kael didn't move. He was on his knees, lungs burning, staring at the red emergency light pulsing like a dying heart. The air in the vault was gone—sucked out by the protocol’s failsafe. Every breath felt like swallowing crushed glass.

"You're shaking," Kael rasped, his voice a dry rattle. He looked up at her, eyes tracking the way her hand trembled on the data drive. "The great Enforcer, terrified of a little vacuum?"

"Shut up," she snapped, though there was no heat in it. Only desperation. She lunged forward, grabbing the collar of his shirt and hauling him up. Her grip was bruising, her knuckles white. "If we don't sync these codes now, we both suffocate in this hole. Do you want to reset again? Do you want to wake up in that cell and feel the needle in your neck for the hundredth time?"

Kael let out a sharp, wheezing laugh that turned into a cough. He leaned into her, his chest brushing against hers. The proximity was sudden, violent.