Chapter 21 · Skyfall Protocol

"Let go of me, Rex, or I swear I’ll break your arm before the ship does."

Vesper’s fingers dug into my jacket as the orbital platform fired.

The sky flashed white.

Not lightning. Not anything natural. A sheet of orbital fire slammed through the upper clouds and turned the city below into a grid of burning glass. The gunship bucked hard enough to throw both of us across the maintenance deck.

I caught a railing with one hand. Vesper didn’t.

Her body shot toward the open launch gap.

"Vesper!"

She hit the edge, boots scraping uselessly against the deck. One more inch and the wind would tear her straight out into the drop.

I lunged after her.

My tether snapped tight inside my skull.

Pain punched through my teeth. Her pulse jumped with mine. Two heartbeats. One rhythm. Too fast.

"Don’t you dare die," I growled.

"I wasn’t planning on it! Catch me!"

I caught her wrist.

The force nearly pulled my shoulder out of its socket. Vesper’s body swung over the side, suspended above a hundred levels of collapsing steel and molten glass.