"I didn't say I cared."
"You asked."
"I need to know what the Crown can use against you."
"There he is. The famous Mercer charm."
His thumb pressed against her pulse again.
"Your heart is beating too fast."
"Get your hand off me."
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
"That isn't an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
A heavy impact shook the far end of the corridor.
Kade looked toward the sound.
Evelyn used the distraction. She drove her knee into his thigh, twisted her wrist, and snapped the small shock blade from the sheath at her belt.
The blade kissed his throat.
Kade went perfectly still.
"Back up," she said.
"You just threatened the man keeping you alive."
"You don't know that yet."
"You really don't."
"Keep talking and you'll find out."
He slowly lifted both hands.
The position should have made him look harmless. It didn't. He filled the narrow space like a locked door, broad shoulders hidden under black armor, eyes fixed on the blade at his throat instead of the woman holding it.
"You won't cut me," he said.
"You keep saying that."
"Because you keep holding the blade wrong."
"I know exactly how to use it."
"Your thumb is too close to the edge. If I twist, you'll slice yourself."
"Then don't twist."
"You took a medical core, not a weapon. You don't know what happens when the housing loses its host."
"I know it paid me two million credits in the underground market."
"It won't pay you anything if the Crown catches you."
"You still haven't explained why I should care about your breathing."
Kade's eyes dropped to the glowing core.
"Because it isn't just keeping me alive."
"What is it doing?"
"Ask me when I have it back."
"No."
"Then ask me after the Crown cuts your brother open to find out where you hid it."
The blade pressed harder against his skin.
A thin red line appeared beneath it.
"Say his name again," Evelyn said, "and I'll make sure you can't talk."
Kade's gaze lifted to hers.
"You care about him."
"Everybody has something they care about. That's how people like you control them."
"People like me?"
"Crown dogs. Killers with polished boots and orders stamped in gold."
"You don't know me."
"I know what you did in the Lower Ring."
His eyes went flat. "You don't know that either."
"Three hundred people died when the first rift gate failed. Your name was on the operation report."
"My name is on a lot of reports."
"Convenient."
"You think I remember it?"
The question slipped out too fast.
Evelyn's blade lowered by half an inch.
Kade saw it. He saw everything.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"It means the Crown took more than my core when they made me their weapon."
"You expect sympathy?"
"I expect you to keep your knife away from your own hand."
"Try again."
His fingers flexed at his sides.
"I don't remember the Lower Ring. I don't remember the first rift failure. I don't remember why half the city thinks I caused it."
"But you remember how to break bones."
"My body remembers."
"That's not creepy at all."
"You should be more worried about what your body remembers."
She frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The core chose you."
"I stole it."
"You touched it and it activated."
"It was already active."
"No. It was dying."
The corridor shook again. Dust dropped from the ceiling. Somewhere outside, sirens multiplied.
Kade stepped closer, slowly enough that she could stop him.
She didn't.
His chest nearly touched hers. The blue light between them shone through her fingers and painted his face in cold color.
"If you pull that core away from me now," he said, "my heart stops."
"Then I guess you should've negotiated before grabbing me."
"You don't understand."
"I understand plenty. I have the expensive part. You have the knife."
"You have the part that keeps my body running."
"And you have the part that keeps mine from getting shot. Sounds fair."
"It's not fair."
"Nothing in this city is fair."
"You take three steps away from me, my nervous system shuts down."
Evelyn held his stare.
"You're lying."
"Test it."
"You want me to?"
"No."
For the first time, his voice lost its hard edge.
The answer hit her harder than it should have.
She looked down at their hands. Her fingers wrapped around the core. His hand still circled her wrist. His pulse beat against her skin, strong but uneven.
"You said this thing was inside your chest," she said. "Why is it in a vault?"
"Because the Crown removed it."
"That doesn't make sense."
"The Crown doesn't need to make sense. It needs obedience."
"And you kept obeying after they took your life-support?"
"They put me on a frame. Fed the core from a distance. Used pain when I missed an order."
His expression didn't move, but his grip changed. His fingers tightened once, then loosened.
"You remember that?"
"Pieces. Not enough to trust."
Evelyn's blade dipped.
A shot cracked from the corridor.
Kade twisted and shoved her down. The round tore through the case where her head had been.
He caught the shooter with one hand.
The soldier flew across the hall and crashed through a glass panel.
Kade stared at his palm.
"Do you always do that when someone annoys you?" Evelyn asked from the floor.
"Only when they shoot at you."
"That sounded almost protective."
"Don't get sentimental."
"Trust me. You're not my type."
"You keep staring at my mouth."
Her breath caught.
"I am looking at the cut on your throat."
"The cut is under my jaw."
"You have a very distracting face."
"That is not what you meant."
"You want to discuss my intentions now? With a murder squad outside?"
"You started it."
"I started stealing from you. You started the creepy flirting."
Kade's mouth pulled tight, but his eyes stayed on her.
"I'm not flirting."
"Sure. And I'm a Crown officer."
He offered her a hand.
Evelyn ignored it and got up on her own.
His hand stayed in the air for one extra second before dropping.
That tiny hesitation bothered her more than the threat in his voice.
"We need to leave," he said.
"I know a route."
"You take me with you."
"You don't get an invitation."