Chapter 12 · Accomplice Pact

"Put the knife down, Lex." Cael caught my wrist before the blade reached Milo's throat. "If he wanted us dead, we'd already be dead."

"That's a terrible defense." I twisted against his grip. His fingers tightened, warm against the inside of my wrist. "Milo, explain why my death certificate and Cael's recovery token were written by the same hand. Now."

Milo backed into a stack of dead server cores. "I was going to. Then you pointed a knife at my face."

"You talk slower when you're scared."

"I talk faster when people wave cutlery at me."

Cael stepped between us. He still looked pale from the crash through the Black Domain, but his shoulders were square again. His coat hung open, exposing the thin interface strip at the back of his neck. The recovery token was gone from his hand. It sat inside my wrist-port, humming under my skin like a second pulse.

I felt his heartbeat through the bond.

Too fast.

His eyes cut to mine. "Stop checking."

"Stop lying."

"I am not lying."

"Your heart just jumped."

Milo raised both hands. "Okay. Great. The creepy couple thing is getting worse.