Chapter 7 · Pit Fight

"Touch that console and I put a bullet through your hand." The voice came from behind the steel door, calm enough to make Evelyn's stomach twist.

Nolan caught her wrist before her fingers reached the panel. His grip was hot, hard, and locked around the same pulse that had been beating against hers for the last three minutes.

"Let go," Evelyn snapped.

"Not until you stop trying to die for a machine."

"That machine opens the gate. My brother is on the other side."

"And whoever planted that bloodied respirator wants you angry enough to make the wrong move."

The countdown over the water plant gate dropped from two minutes and twelve seconds to two minutes and eleven.

On the other side of the door, Mika's respirator swung from a hook. Red smears covered the filter. A small camera blinked beside it, aimed straight at Evelyn's face.

A laugh crackled through the speaker.

"There they are. The little runner and the missing chief. I was starting to think the tunnels had eaten you."

Evelyn yanked against Nolan's grip. "Where is Mika?"

"Alive. For now."

"Let me hear him."

"You don't get to make demands in my house.