Chapter 29 · Rain

"Don't move." Dimitri's hand hits the wall beside my head before I even register he's crossed the room. "Your patch is peeling."

"It's fine." I press my palm flat over the collarbone, over the little square of synth-skin that's kept my whole life a lie for six years. Rain's coming in sideways through the busted window we haven't fixed since the raid. The storm's been screaming for an hour and the backup generator gave out ten minutes ago, so it's just us, two candles, and the sound of water finding every crack in this bunker like it's got somewhere to be.

"It's not fine." He grabs my wrist. Not hard. Hard enough. "I can smell you from the door, Levi."

That word lands like a slap. I yank back and he lets me, which is somehow worse than if he hadn't.

"You work for me," I say. "That contract's still got your signature on it, or did the rain wash that off too?"

"The contract says I keep you breathing." His jaw's doing that thing, the tight flex he gets when he's deciding whether to say the next sentence.