Chapter 18 · Admin Flip

"Don't move, Lex. Your left hand is holding my throat."

Cael's voice came from somewhere behind my teeth.

I looked down. My hand was pressed against his neck, fingers tight enough to make his pulse jump. His hand, meanwhile, was wrapped around my wrist. The position should have been impossible. We stood three feet apart in the dead service tunnel, but my body was in his grip and his body was under my hand.

A red scan line slid across the concrete wall.

"That's not my hand," I said.

"It is attached to my arm."

"Helpful."

"Stop squeezing."

"Stop grabbing me."

"I am not grabbing you."

His fingers tightened around my wrist.

I stared at him. Or at the face I could see through my own eyes. Cael's gray coat was torn at the shoulder, his dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. His other hand held a black pulse pistol aimed at the tunnel entrance.

My stomach dropped.

"Cael," I said, keeping my voice low, "why can I feel your trigger finger?"

His jaw locked. I felt the movement in my own mouth a second later.

"Because our motor feeds are crossed.