Chapter 38 · The Red Invitation

"Put the knife down, Vesper."

Kael's hand closed around my wrist before the blade reached the man on his knees.

The captive jerked against the restraints. His mouth was taped shut, but his eyes screamed for help. A thin line of blood ran from his hairline to his jaw.

I twisted hard. "Get your hand off me."

"Not until you stop trying to ruin my interrogation."

"Your interrogation is useless. He's not talking."

"He can't talk with a broken jaw."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have broken it."

Kael pulled my wrist higher, pinning my arm against the steel wall behind me. His body blocked the only clear path to the captive. He was close enough that the heat from his chest pressed through my jacket, and I could feel each calm breath against the side of my face.

I hated that he was calm.

I hated more that my pulse jumped when his fingers tightened.

"You want answers about the leak," he said. "So do I. But you don't get to kill everyone before they give them to us."

"He sold my location."

"He sold a partial route. The ambush was waiting three blocks away, not here.