Chapter 16 · The Warning in the Relay

"Take your hand off the relay, Eli." Sera's blade pressed under his jaw before his fingers reached the black metal box.

"You can either cut me or let me open it," Eli said. "Doing both gets us killed faster."

Her breath touched his cheek. Close enough to feel. Close enough to make his pulse jump for a reason he refused to examine.

"You keep saying that," Sera said. "People who know what they're doing usually don't need to beg."

"I'm not begging. I'm telling you the wall behind us is about to collapse."

The stone groaned.

Sera's eyes shifted toward the sealed chamber door. Eli used the half-second to catch her wrist and twist. Her blade scraped his collar instead of his throat. She slammed her shoulder into his chest, and they hit the relay table together.

The black box shook between them.

"Let go," she snapped.

"You first."

"You want me to break your fingers?"

"You'd have to catch them."

She drove her knee toward his thigh. Eli blocked it, but the impact shoved him back against the table. The cracked mark beneath his shirt flared hot. Black light crawled over his ribs, thin lines burning through the fabric.