Chapter 13 · Neon Graves

"Stop moving or I rip the cable out." Kane's hand locked around the back of my jacket and slammed me against the tunnel wall.

The impact knocked a breath out of me. A hot line of pain shot up my spine, right beneath the military core fused into my nerves.

"Try it," I rasped. "Maybe we both get lucky."

"You first."

His forearm pressed across my collarbones. Not hard enough to crush me. Just enough to remind me he could.

The tunnel lights blinked once, then died.

A thick gray cloud rolled through the service passage behind us. It crawled low along the floor, slipping under the blast door we had barely cleared. My throat closed before I could take a full breath.

Kane released me and shoved me down. "Get low."

"You love giving orders."

"You love staying alive. Move."

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me into a maintenance alcove. Dex had built it into the old transit line years ago, back when this sector still had power and people paid him to keep them breathing.