Chapter 10 · The Name He Couldn't Lose

"Don't let go of me."

Eli's hand locked around my wrist as the elevator slammed to a stop.

My gun snapped toward his chest.

"Move, and I shoot."

"You won't."

"Try me."

Red numbers crawled across the elevator mirror.

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Eli glanced at the countdown, then at me. Blood had soaked through the side of his shirt, but his grip didn't loosen. His fingers pressed against my pulse, hot and steady.

"The vault is two floors below us," he said.

"The vault that strips memories?"

"Yes."

"And you thought that was a good place to take me?"

"I thought it was the only place the network couldn't reach fast enough."

The lights flickered.

Metal doors crashed open somewhere above us. Boots thundered across the emergency landing.

Eli dragged me toward the service hatch.

I dug in my heels. "Get your hand off me."

"If I let go, the elevator tags your location."

"Then stop touching me and let them come."

His jaw tightened. "They won't come to arrest you, Mara. They came to erase you."

That hit harder than it should've.

He drove his shoulder into the hatch.