Chapter 18 · The Choke Point

"Don't touch that door!" Nolan caught Evelyn by the back of her coat and hauled her away from the blast panel.

The metal door buckled inward. A white jet of chemical foam punched through the seam and splashed across the floor where her boots had been. The concrete hissed. Her left sleeve darkened at once, smoking through the fabric.

"Let go of me!"

"You want your arm cooked? Stand still."

She twisted hard, but his grip locked around her waist. His chest hit her back. Heat rolled off him, even through two layers of contaminated-zone gear. His breath scraped against her ear, rough and fast.

Evelyn drove her elbow into his ribs.

Nolan grunted but didn't release her. "Try that again and I'll carry you."

"Try it and I'll break your nose."

"Good. You're still fighting."

Another burst of foam sprayed through the door. The yellow-white chemical spread toward them in thin, hungry streams.

Evelyn looked down at her sleeve. "Is that acid?"

"Industrial decon solvent."

"That answer was too quick."

"Because I can read a warning label."

"You can't remember your own name, but you can read labels?"

His jaw tightened beside her cheek.