Chapter 30 · Kael's mouth went dry

She slapped a palm against his chest and forced him backward into the wall. The metal rang behind his head.

"You want the truth? Fine. I saw a man standing in a room full of bodies. He wore the same face you wear now. The system called him a breach. Then it called him an administrator. Then every camera shut off."

Kael's mouth went dry.

"Did he have gold in his eyes?"

Sila's expression changed.

"Yes."

The word landed harder than the gun.

Kael reached for the drive. Sila caught his hand before he touched it.

"Don't," she said.

"If I don't open the vault, Viktor's soldiers kill everyone above us."

"And if you do?"

"Maybe they kill us faster."

"That's not good enough."

"It's what we have."

"No. We have another option."

She raised the gun until the muzzle touched the center of his forehead.

"I can put you down before the Seed wakes up. No Viktor. No vault. No risk."

Kael looked at her finger on the trigger. Then at her mouth. She had bitten the inside of her cheek.