Chapter 21 · You don't beg

"You aren't giving me anything. You're throwing scraps at me and waiting for me to beg."

"You don't beg."

"You don't know me."

Kane stared at her.

The words pushed through the static before he could stop them.

"Lena."

Her grip froze.

The gun stayed under his jaw, but the barrel no longer touched him.

Selena's face emptied. Not fear. Something worse. Recognition without a memory to hold it.

"What did you call me?"

Kane swallowed. His throat scraped against the pistol's metal edge.

"Your name."

"No one calls me that."

"Your brother did."

Her fingers tightened against his chin. "I don't have a brother."

"You did."

"Stop."

"His name was Elias. He hated carrots, lied about his height, and kept a red wire bracelet under his pillow because you made it for him when you were twelve."

Selena's breathing changed.

One short inhale. Then another, much slower.

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"You did."

"When?"

"After the south wall fell. You were drunk, exhausted, and holding a knife to my throat."

"I've never held a knife to your throat."

"You will."

The gun shifted back against his jaw.

"Kane."

"August fourteenth, 2041," he whispered.