Chapter 19 · Kill Before Blackout

"You have thirty seconds before the tower locks us out." Eli shoved me behind a concrete pillar as gunfire shredded the lobby doors. "And before you ask—yes. The city network knows you're here."

"Then stop hiding me and get me upstairs." I pressed my palm to the cut along my ribs. Blood soaked through my shirt. "The mayor's on forty-two."

Eli leaned around the pillar and fired twice. A security drone dropped from the ceiling, sparks spraying from its ruined camera.

His hand closed around my wrist before I could step into the open.

"You don't get to give orders while you're bleeding through your clothes."

"You don't get to touch me and call it strategy."

His fingers tightened.

Not enough to hurt. Enough to remind me he could drag me wherever he wanted if I fought him.

That was Eli Rook's favorite trick. He never raised his voice. He didn't need to. The gun in his hand, the locked exits, and the hunters closing in behind us did all the shouting for him.

"The mayor has the override key," he said. "We take him alive, and we get into the blackout chamber.