Chapter 10 · Abyss Unleashed

"On your knees, little surgeon. Hands behind your head. Now."

The rifle barrel kissed my forehead before I could even breathe right.

Cold steel. Shaking hand behind it. Some kid in an Inquisitor coat that was too big for him.

"I said now!" he screamed again.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time," I snapped. "You got a safety on that thing or are we both dying by accident?"

Cassian laughed inside my head. Not funny. Sharp and cold.

"He will shoot," he said, his voice right against my ear even though his mouth wasn't moving. "Let me out, Sylvia."

"No."

"Sylvia."

"I said no!" I wasn't talking to the kid anymore and the kid flinched.

Behind him, two more Inquisitors were fanning out, blocking the service exit. The tunnel we'd crawled through was already caving in behind us. Dust in my throat. My legs were jelly. The second heartbeat in my chest was going insane, hammering so fast it didn't feel human.

The kid pressed harder with the rifle. "Who are you talking to? Who's in there with you?"

"Nobody you want to meet," I said.

Cassian pushed. I felt him push.