Chapter 8 · Put that down

She pushed off him and rolled behind the console. Kael rose with one hand against the floor, pale but upright.

Sera saw the weakness before he hid it.

His left side dipped every time he breathed.

She grabbed the loose arc projector from the floor.

Kael's eyes narrowed. "Put that down."

"You don't get to give orders."

"You're holding a damaged weapon."

"So are you."

"Mine isn't aimed at my own face."

"Give me one reason not to use it."

"Because the charge will bounce through the shackle."

"And hit you."

"Yes."

"That sounds useful."

His stare hardened. "You wouldn't do it."

"You sure?"

"You need me alive."

"Maybe I need you hurt."

"For what?"

Sera stepped closer, keeping the projector trained on him. "To make you open the command core."

The corner of his mouth moved. Not a smile. Something darker.

"There she is," he said softly. "The woman who survived the platform."

"You say that like you made me."

Kael went still.

It was tiny. A pause. A breath held too long.

Sera caught it.

"What did I say?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"You froze."

"You're imagining things."

"No. My memories are broken, not my eyes.