Chapter 34 · she said

He pointed at the soldiers gathering beyond the wagon.

Then he pointed at her eyes.

The world had blurred again. The edges of the wagon smeared. The spell-lamps became red streaks. Her balance tipped sideways.

"Fine," she said. "But if you carry me like a sack, I will break your nose."

He bent before she finished speaking.

One arm hooked behind her knees. The other locked around her back. He lifted her against him as if she weighed nothing.

Sylvia grabbed his mask. "I said no carrying."

His mouth appeared behind the iron plates. "You said you would break my nose."

She could hear him now.

The sound hit her like a slap.

Not because he had spoken loudly. Because his voice had returned inside her skull, low and rough, vibrating through the bond instead of traveling through the air.

"You can hear me?" she asked.

"Only you."

"That's worse."

"Your complaints are louder than the army."

"Put me down."

"No."

"You don't get to decide that."

"I just did."

A soldier rounded the wagon.

Cassian turned and drove his shoulder into the man's chest. They crashed against the side panel. Sylvia felt the impact through Cassian's body.