Chapter 14 · Grind, Loot, Survive - Chapter 14: Price of a Fake Death

"Stop breathing, or I’ll give you a reason to actually be dead," Selene hissed.

Her palm was pressed hard against my mouth, shoving my face into the coarse, metallic lining of the body bag. The smell was a cocktail of old ozone and chemical preservatives. I couldn't move. I couldn't even blink without the plastic crinkling like a gunshot in the silence of the morgue wing.

"Mmph!" I tried to twist away, but she leaned her weight into me. I could feel the heat of her body through her tactical gear, the sharp pressure of her thigh pinning my legs. She was close—too close. I could smell the faint scent of winter mint and something metallic, like cold steel, clinging to her skin.

"One sound," she whispered, her lips brushing against the shell of my ear, "and I leave you here for the cleaners. They don't check for heartbeats before they incinerate."

I froze. My heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird, and I was pretty sure she could feel it through the thin fabric of my shirt.