Chapter 28 · Back in the Cage

The cuff bit into my wrist. Medical-grade steel, the kind that doesn't give.

I yanked hard enough to feel the bone shift. The gurney didn't move. Kade had locked it to the rail before he walked out, and I could still hear his boots in the tunnel, getting quieter.

Lia was staring at the empty doorway. Her hands were shaking.

"He's not coming back," she said.

I pulled again. The cuff scraped skin. "Shut up."

"Mara—"

"I said shut up." I twisted my wrist, felt the lock mechanism dig in. Standard issue. I'd seen these on psych transfers. You don't pick them. You wait for someone with a key.

Or you dislocate your thumb.

I pressed my free hand against the base of my thumb and started counting. One. Two.

"Don't," Lia said. She grabbed my arm. "You'll just hurt yourself."

"He walked into a trap."

"He made a choice."

"Because Darian put a gun to a bus full of people." I jerked my hand back. Lia let go. "That's not a choice. That's a leash."

The emergency lights overhead flickered. The transit system was losing power in sections. We had maybe ten minutes before the whole line went dark.