Chapter 19 · Steal the Starlight - Chapter 19: Bug In Her Pocket

"Take your hand off me, Wren." Her fingers tightened around my wrist before I could reach the apartment door. "You don't get to run to the inspector and dump this on me."

"Dump what?" Wren stepped in front of the lock, blocking me with her shoulder. Her white agency jacket was still zipped to her throat, the gold star on it bright enough to make my teeth hurt. "That you broke three city wards, flattened a patrol drone, and nearly crushed a man on live feed?"

"I didn't crush him."

"You threw him through a concrete wall."

"He was trying to put a shock collar on me."

"And now the inspector thinks you planned the whole attack."

"Good. Maybe he'll finally ask why your agency sent us into a trap."

Her jaw jumped. For half a second, I thought she'd let go. Then her thumb pressed hard against the inside of my wrist, right over the black power link burned into my skin.

Pain shot up my arm.

"Keep your voice down," she said.

I laughed once. It came out ugly. "Why? The cameras aren't rolling, right?"

Wren's eyes flicked toward the ceiling.