Chapter 55 · They're trying to pull you away

I watched his face change.

Not fear. Calculation. The cold kind that had kept him alive while everyone around him followed orders straight into graves.

"They're trying to pull you away," I said.

"I know."

"Because they know the case is open."

"It isn't open yet."

"Then why are they panicking?"

A second red line lit across the brass plate.

Dorian looked down. "How long?"

"Maybe six minutes. Maybe less."

"You said eight."

"The train isn't the only thing moving."

He grabbed the case and shoved it closer. "Tell me what you need."

"Silence."

"That's not happening."

"Then stand there and watch me fail."

He leaned down, his mouth close to my ear. His body heat pressed through my sleeve.

"You don't get to fail. Not with your brother's life tied to this."

My hand froze over the grooves.

"Don't talk about him."

"Why? Because you think I don't know what the prison number means?"

I shoved his shoulder. "You don't know anything about him."

"I know the order moving him came from my command. I know someone buried his file under a false treason charge.