Chapter 52 · Selena yelled from the doorway

Then Rook moved.

Selena looked over her shoulder. I saw the opening before she did.

"Down!"

I shoved her aside and charged.

Rook fired from the hip. The shot burned across my upper arm. I hit him before he could fire again, drove my shoulder into his chest, and carried him through the half-open blast door.

We crashed into the maintenance bay.

A rack of tools toppled beside us. Rook kicked my knee. I went down, and he reached for the emergency release on his belt.

"Kane!" Selena yelled from the doorway. "Move!"

"Busy!"

Rook slapped the release.

The floor panels opened beneath us.

I caught the edge with one hand. Rook caught my other wrist.

For a moment, we hung over the service shaft together. Heat rolled up from the machinery below. My shoulder screamed. Rook's grip was cold and steady.

"Look at me," he said.

I did.

His face kept breaking apart in my head. The man who had shared my bunk during the first campaign. The man who stole my ration bars.