Chapter 37 · The Promise, Not the Clause

"Let go of the panel, Torin."

His hand was still flat over mine on the cold steel, both of us locked on the same lever like neither one of us trusted the other not to pull it first. His palm was hot against my knuckles. Mine were freezing from the pump-room air, and I hated that I could feel both temperatures at once, hated that I noticed his pulse ticking against the back of my hand instead of just noticing the lever.

"You first," he said. Low. Not moving.

The intercom cracked before I could answer.

"Both of you, hands off the trigger panel. Now." Marnie Cole's voice, flat and amused, filled the concrete room like it belonged there. "I can see you. I can see the panel. I can see you're still touching each other, which, frankly, is the most interesting thing either of you has done since I took the switch."

Torin's jaw went tight.