Chapter 59 · Tell them to stand down

She caught it before it hit the floor.

Veyr fired again.

The table split. Sylvia rolled through the gap, came up behind him, and hooked her arm around his throat.

His pistol dropped.

"Tell them to stand down," she said.

"You will not kill me."

"You trained me to make clean cuts."

"You need me."

"For what? Another lie?"

"For the bond. I am the only person who can reverse it."

Cassian said, "He cannot reverse anything."

Veyr heard the change in her breathing. "What did he promise you? A throne? Protection? He cannot even keep your organs stable."

Sylvia slammed his face against the wall.

"Use another word for my body," she said, "and I will remove your tongue."

"You think this is strength? You are a failing experiment."

"No. I am the surgeon. You are the patient."

She dragged the scalpel across the locking seam of his coat. The hidden plates beneath it clicked open, revealing a row of silver vials strapped against his ribs.

Veyr froze.

Sylvia saw the smallest one. Dark fluid. Gold seal.

"What is that?"

"Nothing."

"You brought a sealed vial into a raid. That is never nothing."

"Drop the blade."

"Tell me.