Chapter 24 · Her Brother on the Altar

"Touch that lever and your brother dies."

Cael's hand clamped around my wrist before my fingers reached the cutter.

I drove my elbow into his ribs.

He grunted, but he didn't let go. His back slammed into the core housing, and the shared pulse under my breastbone kicked hard enough to steal my breath.

"Move."

"Not happening."

"Your father has my brother strapped to a sacrificial altar."

"I know. I can see him."

"Then stop grabbing me!"

Cael shoved my wrist over my head and pinned me against the control column. His body blocked the cutter. His breath brushed my cheek, hot and uneven. Through the heartlock, every beat in his chest dragged against mine.

Then one of those beats stuttered.

His jaw tightened. "The cutter won't just break the lock. It'll shut down the shield."

"And if I do nothing, Eli dies in an hour."

"If you cut me loose, six districts lose the shield before the evacuation gates open."

"So that's it?" I twisted against him. "You want me to stand here and watch my brother get carved into the city engine?"

"I want you to think for five seconds before you kill half the lower city.