Chapter 26 · How long?

He moved.

I dropped into the operator's chair and ripped open the lower casing. Wires spilled across my knees. Dorian took position beside the door, pistol raised.

"How long?" he asked.

"Two minutes."

"You have thirty seconds."

"Then shoot faster."

I twisted two wires together. The panel sparked. The speakers screamed, and every lamp on the platform flickered.

Dorian glanced down. "Mara."

"Don't distract me."

"I'm not. The guards are here."

The judgment doors burst open.

Dorian fired twice.

The first guard dropped behind a luggage cart. The second staggered back, clutching his arm.

"Thirty seconds is gone," Dorian said.

"Then stop counting."

I jammed my knife into the panel and bridged the final contacts. The station speakers boomed alive.

Every voice on the platform died.

Dorian stepped onto the raised broadcast deck. Blood ran from a cut along his jaw, bright against his skin.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

He held out his hand.

"Come here."

"Absolutely not."

"Mara."

"You said beside you. Not in front of an entire station."

"If you stand behind me, they can claim you're a prisoner."

His voice dropped. "I need them to see the ring."

The guards regrouped.