Chapter 7 · The Name They Buried

"Move, Ayla! If that door seals, we're both dead!" Kade slammed his shoulder into the maintenance hatch as the train screamed around them.

The metal door jumped under another impact. Something hit it from the other side hard enough to bend the hinges.

Ayla grabbed Kade's coat and hauled him back. "You don't get to give orders while your heart is trying to explode."

"Then stop arguing and help me!"

"I am helping. I'm keeping you alive."

"You're touching the lock. That's not the same thing."

"For you, it is."

The hatch buckled again.

Kade's hand closed around her wrist. His palm was burning hot. Not fever-hot. Core-hot. The forbidden engine buried behind his ribs had started pushing through his skin, bright lines crawling up his throat.

Ayla's soul-mark flared beneath her glove.

Kade sucked in a sharp breath. The glow on his neck dimmed.

His eyes snapped to her hand. "Do that again."

"Say please."

"Ayla."

"That wasn't please."

A metal claw punched through the hatch. Black armor showed behind it.