Chapter 30 · Don't run from the question

The last line cut clean through the others.

I lunged.

This time Silas didn't catch my wrists. He caught my face.

His fingers closed around my jaw, firm but controlled, forcing me to look at him. His other hand trapped the key between our bodies.

"Don't run from the question."

"Move."

"Who are you trying to remember?"

"Nobody."

"Liar."

"You built the lie."

"I found you in a dead sector with your identity burned out and three people hunting you."

"And you decided to keep me."

"I decided to give you a chance."

"You decided you liked owning the only person in the room who could hurt you."

His thumb paused near the corner of my mouth.

The touch was barely there. A warning, not a caress. Still, my breath caught again.

His eyes dropped to my lips.

"Maybe," he said.

I should have used the moment to strike.

Instead, I stared at him.

The key pulsed harder between us.

The collar's metal ring clicked.

A seam appeared along its inner edge.

Silas felt it and his whole body went tense.

"No," he said.

"What?"

"The sync is moving too fast."

"Good.