Chapter 20 · She caught his fingers before he touched them

She caught his fingers before he touched them. Her palm was warm. His was colder from the core’s pulse. Their hands locked between them, close enough for his knuckles to brush the metal clasp at her wrist.

Sloane’s gaze dropped to their hands.

“Let go,” she whispered.

“You first.”

“I can break your fingers.”

“You can try.”

“I don’t try.”

“Right. You threaten, shoot, and sign people into soul-pacts.”

“You forgot interrogate.”

“Wouldn’t want to insult your skill set.”

Her mouth almost curved. Almost.

Then the Heart pulsed again.

A voice moved through the pipes.

“Kael.”

He stopped breathing.

Sloane’s fingers tightened around his.

The voice came again, lower this time. “Kael, if you can hear me, don’t let her open Door Two.”

His father.

Not a recording. Not a machine echo. The voice carried the rough break at the end of his sentences, the old habit of swallowing pain instead of admitting it.

Kael turned toward the central gear. “You heard that.”

Sloane pulled him back. “Don’t touch it.”

“He’s in there.”

“We don’t know that.”

“He said Door Two.”

“Which means the Heart knows what your father knew.”

“Or he’s trapped inside it.”

“Kael, listen to me.”

“No.