Chapter 42 · What did you do here?

That answer landed wrong. Too fast. Too honest.

She turned on him. "What did you do here?"

"I didn't build this lab."

"I didn't ask who built it. I asked what you did."

His eyes moved over the tables. His face tightened when he saw the restraints.

"I came here once," he said. "Years ago."

"For what?"

"To stop the program."

"And did you?"

"I erased the murder protocol."

Sera stared at him. "The what?"

"There was a command in the shackle. It could turn a bonded fighter into a remote weapon. I found the command and wiped it."

"You expect me to thank you?"

"No."

"You expect me to believe you?"

"No."

"Then give me something better."

Kael reached inside his coat.

Sera drew her knife and pressed the blade beneath his chin.

"Slowly."

"You think I brought a weapon into a lab full of weapons?"

"I think you lie when you're breathing."

"That explains the look on your face."

He pulled out a small black disc.

A crown chip.

The city ruler's authority seal. One chip could open every civic gate, command every guard unit, and transfer control of the central districts.

Kael held it between two fingers.