Chapter 21 · The Forbidden Door

“Don’t touch the map.”

Cael’s hand closed around my wrist before my fingers reached the glowing seal. His grip was hard enough to hurt. Not hard enough to stop me.

I looked down at his damaged Adjudicator badge. The black metal had split down the middle, but the broken edges were shining against my skin.

“Funny,” I said. “You didn’t mind me touching the last thing that tried to kill us.”

“That wasn’t a door.”

“It looked like a door.”

“It was a trap wearing a door’s face.”

Milo shoved his cracked visor higher on his nose. Blood had dried along his cheek, but he still had enough energy to point his shock-pistol at the map.

“Can you two flirt after we stop the station from deleting us?” he asked.

“We’re not flirting,” Cael and I said together.

Milo blinked. “That was adorable. Also, we have three minutes.”

The map changed before I could yank my wrist free. A red line cut across the projection. It ran from the Neon Refuge through six locked sectors and ended at a black hexagon pulsing under the station.

FORBIDDEN ZONE CORE.

ACCESS CONDITION: ADJUDICATOR CORE.

REQUIRED SACRIFICE: UNKNOWN.

The last line kept blinking.