Chapter 5 · Don't call me that

She shoved his shoulder.

He barely moved.

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Because it sounds true?"

"Because you don't know me."

"Neither do you."

That struck something in him.

The blue energy around his fingers snapped to life.

The room lights died.

Evelyn's wristband went dark. The speaker cut off. For one breath, there was only the sound of their matched heartbeats.

Then Kade grabbed her waist and pulled her behind a support column.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding you."

"From who?"

"Not the soldiers."

A soft click came from the ceiling.

Kade looked up.

A black lens opened in the metal above them.

"That isn't Crown equipment," he said.

"You recognize it?"

"No."

"You said you don't remember."

"This isn't a memory problem."

The lens rotated toward Evelyn.

A thin red beam crossed her chest.

Kade shoved her down.

The beam fired.

The support column split where her head had been.

Kade raised his hand. A wall of blue energy crashed into the ceiling device.

The lens shattered.

Something moved above the broken metal.

Not a soldier. Too fast. Too quiet.

Kade's body tightened against hers.

"Stay behind me."

"If you say that again—"

"You can threaten me after we survive."

He pulled her through a side door and into a narrow stairwell. They climbed fast, shoulder to shoulder. The bond tugged every time they separated by more than a step.

At the top, Kade stopped so suddenly Evelyn hit his back.

"What now?" she whispered.

He held up one finger.

Footsteps moved on the other side of the door.

One person.

Slow. Heavy. Patient.

Evelyn slipped her shock blade free.

Kade looked at it.

"That won't stop what's out there."

"Then stay close and try not to get stabbed."

"You say that like I have a choice."

"You don't."

The footsteps stopped.

A voice spoke through the door.

"Kade Mercer. Open the door."

He went rigid.

Evelyn caught the change in his face.

"You know that voice."

"No."

"You do."

"I said no."

"Your pulse just jumped."

"Your pulse jumped first."

"Because you look like you're about to throw up."

"I don't throw up."

"Everybody throws up."

The voice outside laughed softly.

"Still hiding behind someone else, Kade?"

Kade's hand closed around Evelyn's.

The core flared.

A memory hit him.

Evelyn saw it spill across his face before she felt it through the bond.

A long white corridor.

A woman in a Crown uniform standing beside him.

Her hand on his shoulder.

"You promised me you would never use the core on a civilian," the woman said.

Kade's younger voice answered, "I promised I wouldn't use it on you."

The memory snapped apart.

Kade staggered.

Evelyn held him upright.

"Who was she?"

"I don't know."

"You remember her."

"I remember her voice."

"That's not nothing."

"It is to me."

The person outside tapped once on the door.

"Open it, Mercer. I know she's there. I can hear both of your hearts."

Evelyn's breath stopped.

Kade turned to her.

"When I open this door, run down the stairs."

"No."

"Evelyn."

"We're attached, remember? If you die, I die."

"Then stay behind me."

"You finally asked instead of ordering."

"I'm not asking."

"There he is."

The door handle began to turn.

Kade lifted his hand.

Blue light built around his arm, brighter than before. The stairwell walls groaned. Evelyn felt the power crawling through the bond, hot and wild, tearing at her ribs.

"Kade," she warned.

"Back up."

"You're going to bring the building down."

"Maybe."

"You don't know how to control it."

"I know enough."

"No, you don't."

"Trust me."

She stared at him.

"I just met you."

"And you put my life in your hand."

"You keep bringing that up too."

"Because you're the only person who can stop me."

The door burst open.

Kade released the power.

The blast blew the figure back through the hall. Evelyn hit the wall, and Kade caught her before her head struck the metal.

For half a second, his face was right over hers.

His breath shook.

"Are you hurt?"

"Ask me after you stop dropping buildings on me."

"Answer me."

"No."

"You're bleeding."

"It's a scratch."

His fingertips brushed the cut on her cheek.

The touch was quick. Careful. Too careful for a man everyone called a killer.

Evelyn caught his wrist.

"Don't."

He didn't pull away.

"Why not?"

"Because I might forget you're the enemy."

His eyes stayed on hers.

"You should never forget that."

"Was that a warning?"

"Yes."

"It sounded like a request."

His thumb moved once against her palm.

"Then stop making me ask."

A metal projectile struck the hall wall beside them.

Kade shoved Evelyn behind him.

The figure rose from the wreckage.

Tall. Covered in a pale mask and a coat that swallowed the light. No Crown insignia. No visible weapon.

But the air around them went cold.

Kade's hand tightened around Evelyn's.

The masked stranger tilted their head.

"You found your heart," they said.

Evelyn looked at Kade.

"You know them?"

"No."

The stranger lifted one hand.

Every blue line under Evelyn's skin lit up at once.

Pain punched through her chest.

Kade dropped to one knee.

The core jerked in her hand, trying to tear itself free.

"Give it to me," the stranger said.

"Get your own," Evelyn snapped.

The masked head turned toward her.

"You don't understand what you stole."

"Everybody keeps saying that. Try something original."

Kade forced himself upright. Blue energy crawled over his arm, but it flickered badly.

"Run," he said.

"No."

"This isn't the Crown."

"I noticed."

"This thing can pull the core out through your chest."

"Then help me stop it."

"I can't."

"You can. You just don't want to."

The stranger moved.

Kade threw out his hand.

The power struck the mask and cracked it down the center.

The stranger didn't fall.

A gloved hand closed around Kade's throat and lifted him off the floor.

Evelyn's heartbeat slammed against his through the bond.

"Put him down," she said.

The stranger turned toward her.

"Let go of the core."

"Put him down first."

"You are in no position to bargain."

"You are holding the wrong person."

Kade clawed at the hand around his throat.

Evelyn saw the core pulsing in her palm. Saw the blue lines running from it into her wrist. Saw Kade's face turning tight with the effort to breathe.

She had one move.

Maybe.

She drove the shock blade into the stranger's wrist.

The grip loosened.

Kade dropped.

Evelyn caught his coat and pulled him behind her.

The stranger looked at the blade buried in their glove.

"That was rude."

"I get that a lot."

Kade pushed himself up beside her.

"You should have run."

"You should have stayed dead in the vault."

"I tried."

"Try harder."

The stranger pulled the blade free.

Kade stepped in front of Evelyn again.

She grabbed the back of his coat and yanked him sideways.

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Trying to die for me."

His gaze cut to hers.

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"Same thing."

The stranger raised the stolen blade.

Kade's eyes flashed blue.

The floor cracked under his boots.

Evelyn felt his power flood through their locked pulse, too much and too fast.

"Kade, don't."

"Stay back."

"Your heart can't take it."

"Neither can theirs."

"I said don't!"