Chapter 5 · she said

He did not reach for his gun.

"Talk," she said.

"Sera—"

"Talk, or I open your throat."

"You won't."

"Why?"

"Because you need me."

"I need your key. I don't need you."

"Same problem."

She pressed the blade closer. A small red line appeared beneath the edge.

Kael's eyes dropped to her mouth for half a second, then returned to her eyes. The look was quick, but she caught it.

"Don't," she warned.

"Don't what?"

"Look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you think I won't do it."

"I don't think that."

"You should."

"I think you'll do exactly what keeps you alive."

"And killing you might do that."

"No. It won't."

"Convince me."

Kael slowly lifted one hand. He stopped before touching her wrist.

"If you kill me, the link locks."

Sera stared at him. "What did you say?"

"The system tied your life signal to mine when you touched the access panel. If I die, it reads you as a breach. The collar goes straight to execution."

"You're lying."

"Put the blade down and test it."

"How?"

"Cut me."

The challenge hit harder than the threat. He stood still beneath her knife, pulse beating near the edge, trusting her fear more than her mercy.

Sera's grip shook once.

Kael leaned closer, just enough for his voice to reach her without carrying down the hall.

"You wanted a reason not to kill me," he said. "There it is."

"That's not a reason. That's a chain."

"Call it whatever helps you sleep."

"I don't sleep."

"I know."

Again, that answer. Again, the sense that he knew things he had no right to know.

Sera lowered the knife one inch, not enough to trust him, just enough to move.

The door behind them screamed.

The guards were almost through.

Kael grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward a side passage. "We move now."

"Where?"

"My safe room."

"You have a safe room under the prison?"

"I used to have a throne above it."

"You really miss saying that."

"You really miss being alive. Keep moving."

They ran.

The side passage narrowed into a steep metal stairwell. Kael went first this time, one hand trailing along the rail, pistol aimed over his shoulder. Sera followed close enough that her fingers brushed the back of his coat when the stairs jolted.

The bond pulled at her with every step.

Not pain. Pressure.

A strange awareness of his location, his breathing, the tension in his shoulders. When he slowed, she felt it before she saw it. When he turned, her body reacted before her mind caught up.

She hated the connection.

She hated that part of her wanted to understand it.

"Stop thinking so loudly," Kael said.

Sera nearly missed a step. "I am not thinking loudly."

"You are to me."

"Then stop listening."

"I can't."

"Convenient."

"Not for either of us."

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Sera almost ran into him. Her palm struck his back. The solid heat beneath his coat startled her. Kael turned at once, catching her by the shoulders before she lost her balance.

For one breath, neither of them moved.

His hands held her above the elbows. Her body was trapped between him and the stair rail. His face was close again, his breath warm against her cheek.

"You keep doing that," she said.

"Doing what?"

"Catching me."

"You keep falling."

"I don't fall."

"You were falling."

"I was changing direction."

"Into the floor?"

"It was a tactical floor."

His mouth almost curved.

Sera noticed and hated that too.

A lock clicked somewhere ahead.

Kael released her and walked to a blank section of wall. He placed his hand against it. The wall opened, revealing a narrow room packed with weapons, medical supplies, and dead monitors.

"Inside," he said.

Sera stayed where she was. "You first."

Kael looked back. "You trust me that little?"

"I trust you exactly that little."

"Fair."

He entered the room and turned to face her. "Now you."

"If this door locks—"

"It locks."

"I knew it."

"It also keeps the guards out."

"And keeps me in."

"Only if you choose to stay alive."

The words landed hard.

Sera stepped inside.

The wall sealed behind her.

She immediately grabbed the nearest metal case and swung it at Kael's head.

He ducked. The case struck the wall. Before she could recover, he caught her wrist and turned her into the sealed panel. His forearm pressed across her upper chest, holding her there without crushing her.

"You said you wouldn't lock me in," she hissed.

"I said nothing about not stopping you from breaking my equipment."

"You trapped me."

"I kept you from making noise."

"Your definition of help is terrible."

"Your definition of cooperation is worse."

She struggled. His grip tightened. The bond flashed between them, a hot line through her wrist and throat.

Kael went still.

Sera felt his pulse jump beneath her fingers.

"Let me go," she said.

"Stop fighting."

"Make me."

His eyes narrowed. He shifted closer, bringing his voice down to a rough whisper beside her ear.

"You keep daring me to use force, then acting shocked when I do."

"I am shocked by how boring you are."

"You are shaking."

"The collar is still active."

"Not all of that is the collar."

Sera stopped fighting.

The room seemed too small. His forearm remained across her chest. His coat brushed her knuckles. She could feel the warmth of his body through the narrow gap between them, and she could hear the controlled drag of his breathing.

"Move your arm," she said.

"Ask properly."

"I will break your fingers."

"That isn't proper."

"Kael."

His gaze held hers.

Then he moved his arm away.

Sera turned fast and shoved him back against the opposite wall. His shoulder struck metal. Her knife was in her hand again, pressed to the center of his chest.

"Don't mistake restraint for surrender," she said.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Give me the key."

"No."

"Then tell me how to remove the collar."

"No."

"You have one useful answer in that head?"

"Several. Most of them would make you angry."

"Try me."

He reached up and touched the side of her collar with two fingers.

Sera's entire body locked.

Not from pain. From the bond.

A pulse moved from his hand through the metal and into her skin. His touch was careful, almost gentle, which made it worse. The shackle cooled beneath his fingers.

Kael leaned in until his mouth was near her ear.

"The bond is the only thing keeping you alive tonight," he said. "And if you walk out that door without me, it will—"

A red targeting dot appeared on Kael's chest.

Sera saw it first.

Her knife stayed against him. Kael's hand froze on her collar.

A rifle clicked somewhere behind her, hidden in the wall panel that had just opened.

A woman's voice whispered from the dark, "Take one more step, Sera, and I shoot him—"