Chapter 57 · Open the door

The older guard glanced at the badge in his hand.

A crack split the silver crest. Dorian had bent it before handing it over.

"Open the door," I told him. "Or explain to command why you let a live relay tear this train apart."

"The order says no one enters."

"The order also says the commander controls the relay."

"He isn't commander."

"Then nobody's in control."

The engine bucked again.

The younger guard lost his footing. His rifle smacked the wall.

Dorian moved.

He drove his shoulder into the guard's chest, knocked the rifle aside, and caught the man's wrist before he could draw his sidearm.

The older guard grabbed Dorian from behind and slammed him against the relay door.

"Dorian!"

The older man twisted Dorian's arm up between his shoulder blades.

Dorian's face hit the steel. Blood flashed across his lip.

"Don't," he warned me.

"You don't get to give me orders while they're breaking your arm."

"Mara, stay back."

The younger guard snatched up the rifle and aimed it at my stomach.

"Kneel," he ordered.

I looked at Dorian.

He was pinned against the door, one guard wrenching his wrist, the other pressing a knife under his jaw.