"The bond already made that decision."
"What bond?"
Kade took one step away from her.
His knees buckled.
Evelyn caught him before he hit the floor.
The core flared in her hand.
Pain ripped through her ribs, sharp and deep, like a fist closing around her heart.
Kade grabbed her shoulder and held on.
"Stay close," he forced out.
"You could've mentioned the dying part."
"I did."
"You said nervous system. This is my chest."
"It's spreading."
"What is spreading?"
"The bond."
The word hung between them.
A metal gate slammed down at the end of the corridor. Crown soldiers shouted behind it.
Evelyn shoved Kade toward a maintenance hatch.
"Open that."
"It requires a Crown seal."
"Then use your famous hands."
"I don't know how."
"You threw a man through glass. Figure it out."
Kade pressed his palm to the hatch.
Nothing happened.
The pain in Evelyn's chest sharpened. She grabbed the front of his coat and pulled him closer.
"Do it now."
"I'm trying."
"Try harder."
"Get your hand off me."
"You need me standing."
"You need me alive."
"Same problem."
The core pulsed between them.
Thin blue lines crawled from Evelyn's palm across her wrist. They stopped just below her sleeve, glowing under the skin.
Kade saw them.
"That wasn't there before."
"I noticed."
"Put the core down."
"You said it would kill you."
"It may kill you first."
"Helpful."
"Evelyn, put it down."
"No."
"You don't know what it is doing."
"Neither do you."
The gate behind them buckled.
Kade slammed his palm into the hatch again.
Blue energy snapped from his hand into the lock.
The metal door popped open.
Evelyn shoved him through first.
"You said you didn't know how to do that."
"I lied."
"You looked surprised."
"I can lie and be surprised at the same time."
She crawled into the narrow maintenance tunnel after him. The hatch slammed shut just as the gate burst open.
Bullets hammered the metal behind her.
Kade lay on his back in the cramped dark, one knee bent, one shoulder pressed against the tunnel wall. There was barely room for both of them. Evelyn landed across him, her hands braced against his chest.
His heart kicked hard beneath her palms.
One beat.
Two.
Then hers matched it.
Evelyn froze.
Kade's eyes opened in the blue glow.
"Move," he whispered.
"I am trying."
"Your hand is on my chest."
"Because you fell under me."
"You pushed me down."
"You were blocking the tunnel."
"You could have gone around."
"There is no around."
The tunnel was too tight. Her thigh pressed against his hip. His hand was flat against her lower back, holding her in place while the soldiers searched the room outside.
His breath brushed her cheek every time he spoke.
"Your heart is matching mine," he said.
"Stop listening to it."
"I can't."
"Then listen to something else."
"Like what?"
"The soldiers. The alarms. Your own terrible personality."
A shadow moved across the thin gap beneath the hatch.
Kade's hand tightened against her back.
"Don't move," he breathed.
"You keep saying that."
"This time, mean it."
The shadow stopped.
A voice came through the metal.
"Search the tunnel. Mercer can't be far."
Evelyn's fingers curled into Kade's coat.
He looked at her hand, then at her face.
"You scared?" he mouthed.
She mouthed back, "I'm considering killing you."
His eyes dropped to her mouth again.
"Later," he whispered.
Her pulse stumbled. His followed half a beat late, then corrected.
The bond tightened.
Pain shot through both of them.
Kade gritted his teeth and pulled her closer to keep her from making a sound.
His cheek brushed her temple. His lips stopped just beside her ear.
"If you fight the bond, it hurts worse."
"How do you know?"
"I remember."
"You said you don't remember anything."
"I said I don't remember enough."
"What do you remember now?"
His eyes went distant for one second.
Then a soldier kicked the hatch.
Kade's arm locked around her.
"Not now," he said.
"You brought it up."
"I was wrong."
"You're going to have to be more specific."
The hatch lifted two inches.
Kade's hand rose. Blue light gathered around his fingers.
Evelyn caught his wrist.
"No."
"They'll see us."
"You use that power in here, and the tunnel comes down."
"Then let go."
"Not until I know what you're doing."
"You don't have time to know."
"You don't get to blow me up because you're impatient."
"You don't get to hold my life in your hand and pretend you're in charge."
The words came out low, rough, and too close.
Evelyn glanced at the glowing core.
"I'm not pretending."
His gaze sharpened.
"Give it back."
"Make me."
For a moment, neither moved.
The soldier outside called, "Mercer, we have your thief pinned in the tunnel. Come out or we burn the whole line."
Kade's face hardened.
"They'll do it."
"Then we move."
"There is nowhere to go."
"There is always somewhere to go."
Evelyn reached past him and found the emergency release cable along the wall.
Kade caught her hand.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"That drops us into the lower fuel channel."
"Good."
"It floods every twelve minutes."
"How long until the next flood?"
"Thirty seconds."
"Then stop wasting my time."
She yanked the cable.
The floor vanished beneath them.
Kade pulled her into his arms as they dropped. They hit a slanted service chute and shot downward together. Evelyn's shoulder slammed into his chest. His arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her from spinning into the dark.
"Let go!" she shouted.
"No."
"I can't steer with you holding me!"
"You can't steer at all!"
"I stole the core, didn't I?"
"You fell into a chute!"
"Details!"
They burst through a maintenance grate and crashed into a narrow channel below the vault. Evelyn landed on her back. Kade hit the floor beside her, rolled, and came up on one knee.
A low mechanical rumble began beneath them.
"Thirty seconds," he said.
"I know."
"The fuel purge starts at the far end."
"Then run."
He grabbed her hand.
The instant their palms touched, blue light flashed between them.
Evelyn gasped.
A strange image slammed into her head.
A white room.
A metal table.
Kade standing over a machine with blood on his knuckles.
Someone was shouting his name.
Not Mercer.
Something else. A name she couldn't catch.
Then the image broke.
Evelyn stumbled.
Kade caught her against his chest.
"What did you see?"
"Get off me."
"You saw something."
"I saw you being unpleasant. Very believable."
"Tell me."
"You first."
"Evelyn."
"There was a room. You were there. You looked scared."
His face emptied.
"I don't get scared."
"You did in that room."
"What else?"
"A machine. Blood. Someone called you by another name."
Kade looked toward the rising rumble.
"What name?"
"I couldn't hear it."
"Try."
"I said I couldn't hear it."
"Try again!"
His shout hit the channel walls.
Evelyn shoved him back.
"Don't yell at me like I'm one of your soldiers."
"You saw my memory."
"For half a second."
"You have no idea what that means."
"Neither do you."
The rumble became a roar.
A wall of black fuel surged through the channel behind them.
Kade looked at the exit ahead, then at Evelyn.
"Can you run?"
"Can you keep up?"
"Don't die just to prove a point."
"Don't fall behind just to prove you're dangerous."