Chapter 35 · You want out?

His hand was still on my shoulder. The heat of it seeped through my jacket. His thumb rested near my collarbone, just below the old scar.

I could feel his breath when he spoke.

"You want out?"

"Obviously."

"Then we need the pod."

I looked at the woman inside. "No."

"The pod's power core is feeding the vault lock."

"You want me to connect to it."

"I want you to pull the core's authorization."

"And what happens when the thing in there connects back?"

His silence stretched.

I shoved his hand away. "You don't know."

"No."

"You were going to make me do it anyway."

"Yes."

At least he said it straight.

I stepped into him and pressed two fingers against the wound on his temple. Blood came away warm.

His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?"

"Checking if guilt makes you bleed faster."

"Does it?"

"Not enough."

His fingers closed around my hand. He turned it palm-up, holding my wrist between us. The movement should have felt like restraint. It did. But his thumb brushed the cut across my knuckles with irritating care.

"You don't have to trust me," he said.

"Good. I don't.