Chapter 30 · he warned

He didn't.

That was answer enough.

I crossed the space between us and slammed him onto the nearest server column. The impact rattled the cables. His pistol dropped, skidding under a console.

He caught my wrist before I could reach for his throat.

"Don't," he warned.

"You gave them my memories."

"I gave them a dead profile."

"You gave them me."

"I gave them what I thought was a weapon."

"And when you found out?"

His grip tightened. "I came back."

"Why? Guilt? Promotion?"

"Because you were alive."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't have to make sense to you. It has to be true."

I twisted against him. He turned with me, using my momentum to pin my back against the column. His forearm settled beside my head. The other hand still locked around my wrist.

His chest was inches from mine. Heat pressed through our clothes. His breath touched my cheek, uneven now.

"Let go," I said.

"Give me the blade."

"You first."

"You don't trust me."

"I trust steel more than I trust you."

"Then use it."

His voice dropped.

"Go on, Kael. Put the blade here and finish it.