Chapter 21 · He Forgot Her Name

"Who the hell are you?"

Cade's voice. Same low register that used to say my name like a promise. Now it's all edges.

I'm still on my knees. The core's blue light is fading behind him, and he's standing there with a gun I didn't see him pick up, aimed past my shoulder at the access door.

"Mara," I say. "We need to move."

"That's not an answer." He doesn't lower the gun. Doesn't blink. "You were here when I woke up. That door's about to open. So tell me why I shouldn't put you between me and whoever's coming through."

Footsteps in the corridor. Multiple sets. Heavy.

"Because you just unplugged yourself from a machine that's been eating your brain for the last ninety seconds," I say, "and you're aiming at the wrong door."

He glances left. The maintenance hatch I came through is rattling.

"Move," he says.

I move.

He's faster than he should be. Pulls me up by the arm, shoves me toward the server stacks on the far wall. His grip is exactly as hard as it needs to be. Muscle memory.