Chapter 26 · The Kill-Switch Kiss

"Put your finger on the switch, Kael, and I swear I’ll pull the trigger."

Sila’s pistol pressed against his forehead hard enough to bite through the skin. Her other hand locked around his wrist, pinning it between them. The red kill-switch on his palm pulsed under his thumb.

One tap.

That was all it took to shut down every machine in the Grey Zone. Drones. Weapons. Water processors. The old defense grid buried beneath the city.

And maybe half the people Sila had spent years trying to protect.

Kael glanced down at her grip. "You’re shaking."

"I’m aiming. There’s a difference."

"Your aim is usually better."

Her jaw tightened. The barrel dug deeper.

They stood in the narrow control room with their backs almost touching the cracked console. Kael had one arm trapped, one hand free, and no clean way to reach the door. Sila had the gun, the locks, and the power to end him before he could access the system.

She had him.

That should have made him feel safer.

It didn’t.

"Tell me how to save them," she said. "Now."

"I already told you. The grid is waking up. If I don’t take control, Viktor’s network will."