Chapter 55 · Her Brother's Gun

"Drop the blade, Kade, or I put a hole through your spine." Evelyn kept the stolen pistol aimed at him, though her hand was shaking hard enough to make the barrel tick against the metal rail.

Kade did not turn around. He stood ten feet away, facing the thing wearing his face.

The copy smiled with Kade’s mouth.

"You won’t shoot him," it said.

"I said drop it."

"You can’t. Not while he’s still useful."

That hit too close. Evelyn tightened her finger against the trigger.

Behind her, the real Kade shifted. His shoulder brushed hers. Heat pressed through the thin fabric of her jacket, and the bond under her ribs answered with a sharp, synchronized beat.

One pulse.

His pulse.

Hers.

The copy watched the contact and laughed softly. "There it is. Still pretending that’s love?"

"Keep talking," Evelyn snapped. "I’m enjoying how easy you make this."

"You don’t even know which one of us you’re protecting."

Kade’s fingers closed around the hilt of the black blade. The weapon was made from rift glass, thin as a strip of night and bright along the edge. It hummed against the broken platform beneath their feet.

The chamber around them shook.