Chapter 39 · she said

For a beat, neither of us moved.

Her body was warm against mine. Mine was too close to hers. The gun sat trapped between our ribs, its metal edge digging into my side every time she breathed.

Then she drove her heel down on my boot.

Pain flashed up my leg. Her elbow struck my ribs. I grunted and lost the hold.

Selena twisted free, spun behind me, and hooked an arm around my neck. The gun pressed beneath my ear.

"Floor," she said.

"You first."

"I am not the one with a death wish."

"You keep putting me in situations where it looks attractive."

She dragged me backward. My boots scraped over loose bolts and broken plating. The wreck's open cockpit waited three steps away.

I dropped my weight.

Selena cursed and tried to wrench my head back. I caught her wrist with both hands and drove my shoulder into the cockpit rim. The impact broke her grip. I rolled under her arm and came up inside the cockpit before she could fire.

Her gun followed me.

I slammed the canopy release.

The cracked glass folded back with a violent hiss.