"Give me the key, Mara."
Dorian caught my wrist before I reached the emergency hatch.
"You open that door, and this whole car comes apart."
"Then stop holding me back."
His fingers tightened around my skin. The train screamed beneath us, metal grinding against metal as it raced toward the sealed tunnel. Shattered glass had sliced my sleeve. Blood ran hot down my arm and slipped between our hands.
Dorian looked at it.
Then at me.
"You took that shot for me," he said.
"I took it because your body was in the way. Don't make it romantic."
His jaw clenched. "You signed a protection marriage with me less than an hour ago. You don't get to pretend you don't care if I live."
"That contract protects my brother. It doesn't make you my husband."
"It does in the eyes of every soldier on this train."
"Then smile for them, Officer Vale. You're the one who forced the vows."
The next jolt threw me into his chest.
His arm locked around my waist before I hit the floor. My palm landed against the hard line of his ribs. His breath struck the side of my face, hot and sharp.
For half a second, neither of us moved.
Then the train lurched again.
"Mara." His voice dropped. "Listen to me. The brakes aren't responding because someone locked the control line from outside. If we hit that tunnel at this speed, the front cars will fold."
"And you know how to fix it?"
"I know where the manual release is."
"So why are we standing here?"
"Because the release is in the engine coupling, past the sealed service door."
I pulled the key from my fist. It was small, black, and warm from his hand.
"This opens the door."
"If you turn it the right way."
"You could've told me that before you shoved it at me."
"You were busy bleeding on me."
"You were busy threatening my brother."
His eyes hardened. "I'm still threatening your brother. If you run, the military court takes him before sunrise."
There it was. The chain around my throat.
He didn't even have to pull anymore. He only had to remind me it was there.
I shoved the key into the lock.
"If we survive this," I said, "I'm tearing up that marriage contract."
"No, you aren't."
"Watch me."
"The contract doesn't end because you get angry."
"It ends when I stop being useful to you."
His gaze dropped to my mouth. Quick. Almost careful.
I caught it anyway.
His hand covered mine on the key. The heat of his palm bled through my skin.
"You're wrong," he said.
The key turned.
The service door released with a hard click. Hot oil and steel air blasted across my face as the train bucked around a curve.
Dorian shoved me behind him and grabbed the doorframe.
"Stay here."
"Absolutely not."
"Mara, this isn't an argument."
"Everything with you is an argument."
He stepped through the opening.
I caught the back of his coat.
"You need me to read the case, remember?"
He looked over his shoulder. "I need you alive."
That answer hit harder than it should've.
I hated him for noticing.
Another violent shake ripped through the car. Dorian's boots slid across the metal floor. I grabbed his belt and held on as the train screamed into the dark passage between cars.
The engine coupling was a narrow platform wrapped in chains and steam. Rails flashed below us in broken silver lines. Above, the armored cars slammed together like they wanted to tear free.
Dorian pointed through the steam. "The brake release is under that housing."
"That housing is moving."
"So move faster."
"You first."
He climbed over the coupling bar without answering.
The instant his foot hit the other side, the train snapped sideways. His shoulder slammed into the armored wall.
"Dorian!"
I grabbed his coat and hauled him back before he went over the edge.
His hand clamped around my waist. My back hit his chest. His mouth brushed my temple as the coupling jolted beneath us.
"Don't let go," he said.
"I wasn't planning to. You're still holding my brother's life hostage."
"Keep telling yourself that's the only reason."
I twisted in his grip. "Say that again."
He looked down at me, close enough that every breath touched my lips.
"You heard me."
A whistle shrieked from the front of the train.
Dorian let me go first. "The tunnel gate is thirty seconds out."
"Then quit flirting and fix the brakes."
His mouth almost curved. Not a smile. Something rougher.
"You noticed?"
"I notice every time you try to distract me."
"Good. Keep watching."