Chapter 44 · The Bond's Lock

"Mara! Get back!"

The blade swung toward my ribs.

I drove my knee between us and smashed my elbow into Dorian's wounded side.

He grunted. The sword jerked higher.

"Don't apologize," I snapped. "Help me."

"How?"

His breath burned across my cheek. His body pinned mine against the cracked control plate, all hard muscle and shaking control. The blade trembled inches from my ribs.

I shoved his sword arm sideways and looked past his shoulder.

The control plate spat sparks. Dead command lines crawled across it, feeding into the bridge core through a silver channel. The same red light pulsed beneath Dorian's skin.

"The command's using the core as an anchor," I said.

"You can't break it."

"I don't need to break it."

"Then what the hell are you doing?"

I twisted his arm harder. His wounded side pressed into my knee.

He sucked in a sharp breath, but the blade stayed up.

"Aim."

His eyes snapped to mine. "What?"

"Aim at the console."

"If I hit it, the whole bridge could come down.