Chapter 22 · Ghost Telemetry

"Move your hand away from the core, Rex, or I put a round through your skull."

Vesper's pistol pressed against my temple hard enough to bruise. Her other hand caught my wrist before I could touch the pulsing metal disk buried under my ribs.

"You always say that like you mean it," I said.

"I do mean it."

"Then pull the trigger."

Her finger tightened.

The tether snapped hot between us. I felt her pulse jump through the link. She felt mine answer. Her breath caught, sharp and close, and the barrel shifted half an inch away from my head.

"Don't," she said.

"Don't what? Bleed on your expensive boots?"

"Don't use the tether to make me hesitate."

"I'm not using anything. You're just scared."

Her gray eyes went flat. "Say that again."

"You're scared."

She slammed me against the steel wall. The back of my skull clipped a bolt, and the core under my skin flashed white. Vesper's body pinned mine before I could bring up my knee. Her coat scraped my jaw. Heat leaked from her palm into my wrist.

"You hid the telemetry," she said. "You knew the core was sending a signal.