Chapter 19 · You Used Me

Ian dropped through the broken floor before Seren could grab him.

His good hand caught the edge for half a second. His injured shoulder slammed into the concrete, and a sharp cry tore out of him.

Seren threw herself flat and caught his wrist.

His fingers were cold. Too cold.

“Nora, help me!”

“I’m trying!” Nora grabbed Seren around the waist and dug her boots into the floor. Her wounded arm was shaking, blood running down to her fingertips. “He’s too heavy!”

Below them, the archive shaft swallowed the light. Black cables hung through the gap like wet roots. Ian dangled over the dark, boots scraping at nothing.

“Seren,” he said.

“Don’t talk.” She tightened her grip. “I’m pulling you up.”

“You need to let go.”

“Yeah, no. I’m not doing that again.”

His face twisted. Not from the pain in his shoulder. From the words.

Again.

A burst of rifle fire cracked across the archive room. Bullets punched into the floor beside Seren’s elbow.

Nora swore and yanked her backward.

Ian’s wrist slid in Seren’s hand.

“No!” Seren hooked her other arm around a metal support and held on.