Chapter 30 · Human Trojan

"Lex, don't move." Cael's gun stayed locked on my chest. "Your mouth just spoke with your mother's voice."

"Then stop aiming at me and shoot the thing using it."

"I can't tell where you end and it starts."

"That makes two of us."

His finger tightened against the trigger. The barrel hovered inches from my sternum, steady enough to make my ribs hurt. Behind him, the sealed transit chamber flashed red with system warnings. Every exit was dead. Every camera had turned toward us.

And inside my skull, Mara Quinn was still screaming.

Not through the speakers. Not through the implant in my neck.

From somewhere deeper.

"Open it," her voice rasped through my teeth. "Lex. Open the door."

I slammed both hands over my mouth. "See? I'm not doing that."

Cael moved fast. One second he was across the chamber. The next, his free hand caught my wrist and shoved it against the armored wall. His coat brushed my knees. Heat rolled off him, sharp and alive, while the gun stayed between us.

"Eyes on me," he said.

"You already have both of them."

"Lex."

"What? You want me to say your name so you feel better? Cael. There.