Chapter 32 · The Genius's Gaze

"Take your hands off him, Victor." Selena's pistol pressed harder against the side of Kane's head.

Victor didn't look at her. He kept one gloved hand around Kane's wrist, thumb resting on the pulse there like he was checking a machine for defects.

"You brought him into my lab," Victor said. "That makes him my problem."

"No. It makes him my pilot."

Kane pulled against Victor's grip. The restraints clipped to the examination chair rattled, biting into his wrists. His shoulder still burned from the sync trial. His throat felt scraped raw from screaming at things nobody else could see.

"Can we settle this after somebody removes the gun from my skull?" Kane asked. "It's giving me a headache."

Selena's eyes cut to him. Cold. Sharp. Still fixed on the little red line crawling across the monitor beside the chair.

"You don't get to complain," she said. "You broke a combat simulator built to kill trained pilots."

"I passed."

"You screamed at empty air."

"The air was lying to me."

Victor finally turned his head. His smile was soft enough to look friendly. That was the problem. Nothing about Victor was friendly.

"He was talking to dead pilots," Victor said.