Chapter 4

"Move."

"No."

"Lena."

"You blow the core, the second lock goes with it. So does my power." She jabbed at the countdown burning across the glass. "I need that power to stop this city from resetting again."

"You need to stay alive first."

"Then stop trying to get us killed."

A silver bolt punched through the glass beside Cade's head.

He grabbed Lena around the waist and dragged her behind the core. The impact rattled the floor. Shards of reinforced glass sprayed through the lab, catching in his coat and her hair.

His chest hit her back. Heat pressed through her shirt. His injured shoulder shook against her ribs, but his grip didn't loosen.

"Still want to argue?" he asked.

Lena twisted in his hold. "You're crushing me."

"Good. Keep your head down."

Another bolt slammed into the core. Black light flashed across the lab.

Behind the smoke, silver-faced guards shouted.

"The lower tunnels," Cade said. "We go now."

"The second lock is under the institute."

"I know."

"And you're taking me there because—"

"Because Shaw just issued a live collection order with both our names on it." His fingers tightened around her waist. "If they catch you, they cut the power out of your spine and put you in a box. If they catch me, they use me to drag you back. Pick one."

Lena stared at him.

"Three seconds," he said.

"You're always this charming when you're bleeding?"

"One."

She grabbed his coat and pulled him closer. "Fine. We go below. But if you touch that core on the way out, I swear I'll—"

"You already threatened the arm."

"I'll find something worse."

The corner of his mouth almost moved.

Then the lab doors buckled inward.

Cade shoved her toward the service hatch. "Run."

"I'm not leaving you."

"You can't. Blood pact. Remember?"

The doors burst open.

Three silver guards charged through the smoke. Their masks had no eyes, only narrow blue slits. One raised a hooked weapon humming with spirit charge.

Cade stepped in front of Lena.

"Down."

She ducked as his execution blade came free with a hard metallic scrape. The first guard swung. Cade caught the weapon, twisted, and drove his elbow into the guard's mask.

The mask cracked.

The guard dropped with a wet grunt.

Lena snatched the weapon before it hit the floor. The handle was cold enough to bite through her palm.

"Left!" Cade barked.

She spun and fired.

Blue light exploded across the second guard's chest. He flew backward into a bank of monitors. Sparks jumped. The warning siren kicked up again, shrill enough to make Lena's teeth hurt.

"You're welcome," she said.

"You missed the throat."

"I was being polite."

The third guard lunged for her.

Cade crossed the space before Lena could swing. He caught the guard by the collar and slammed him into the wall. The silver mask split.

"Who sent you?" Cade demanded.

The guard's hand snapped up.

Red lines crawled across his wrist.

Lena saw the mark first. "Cade, get back!"

The guard's body swelled with trapped magic.

Cade released him and grabbed Lena around the middle. They hit the floor as the guard burst in a flash of red force.

Pain ripped through Lena's chest.

The blood pact answered Cade's wound. His pain became hers. Her lungs locked. Metal filled her mouth, and his torn shoulder seemed to split open inside her own body.

Cade rolled onto one knee. "Move."

"You first."

"Don't start."

"Then don't pretend you're fine."

He glanced at his shoulder. Blood had soaked through the black cloth and dripped onto the tiles.

"It's a scratch."

"That's a lie."

"A small scratch."

"Better. Now crawl."

He caught her hand and pulled her into the service hatch just as another bolt tore through the lab.

The hatch slammed behind them.

Darkness swallowed the sirens.

For two seconds, there was only their breathing and water dripping somewhere below.

Cade pressed a palm-sized sigil against the metal door. Red light spread across it.

"That won't hold them long," Lena whispered.

"It doesn't need to."

He turned and started down the narrow iron stairs.

Lena followed, one hand on the rail and the other wrapped around the stolen weapon. The tunnel dropped sharply beneath the institute. Pipes crowded the walls. Black water rushed through channels under their boots.

"How do you know the way?" she asked.

"I've been here."

"When?"

"Every time I killed you."

Her foot slipped.

Cade caught her wrist before she hit the wall.

His fingers closed around her pulse. Warm. Firm. Too careful for a man who'd put a blade through her heart eight times.

Lena yanked her hand free. "Don't say it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like it's normal."

"For me, it was."

"Not anymore."

Cade's eyes stayed on her. In the weak red light, they looked almost black.

"You remember all nine?" he asked.

"Nine deaths. Nine mornings. Nine times you came for me."

"And this is the first time you cut my mark instead of running."

"You were going to die."

"I was assigned to kill you."

"You were bleeding on my floor. Details changed."

A low sound rolled through the tunnel.

Not water.

Not the guards.

Cade went still.

Through the pact, Lena felt his heartbeat stumble. Then it started pounding against her ribs like it belonged to both of them.

"Cade?"

He looked into the darkness ahead. "Don't call me."

"What?"

"If I stop answering, don't come closer."

"That's not an answer."

His jaw tightened. Red lines from the severed restraint mark had spread beneath his skin, branching up his throat.

"The flood tunnels are warded," he said. "They feed on command magic. Mine's still inside me."

"You said cutting the mark freed you."

"It cut the leash. It didn't remove the dog."

"You could've mentioned that before we came down here."

"You would've refused."

"Correct."

The sound came again.

This time, it came from behind them.

Cade drew his blade.

Lena raised the hooked weapon. "Guards?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"The tunnel's old defense. It wears the voice of whoever you're afraid to obey."

A woman spoke from the dark.

"Kneel, Cade."

His shoulders jerked.

Lena stepped in front of him. "Don't listen."

"Kneel," the voice repeated. "Open the prisoner gate. Bring me the girl."

Cade's blade dipped.

Lena grabbed his face with both hands and forced him to look at her. His skin burned beneath her palms. His breath struck her knuckles, rough and uneven.

"Hey. Look at me."

"Move your hands."

"No."

"Lena."

"Say my name again."

His pupils had narrowed to black points.

"Lena."

"Good. Now say who you are."

"Cade Rourke."

"Again."

"Cade Rourke."

The red lines on his throat pulsed.

"Again."

His hands closed around her wrists. Not hard enough to hurt. Hard enough to warn her.

"I said move."

"And I said no. You want to obey that voice? Go ahead. But you'll have to drag me with you."

"You're making this worse."

"Then fight harder."

The tunnel answered with a roar.

Water exploded through a side gate and surged across the walkway. Lena lost her footing. Cade caught her around the ribs and held her against him while the flood tore past their boots.

His mouth brushed her temple as he spoke against her ear.

"When I tell you to jump, jump."

"When I tell you to stop being an idiot, stop."

"You talk too much."

"You kill too much."

His grip shifted. For half a second, she felt his heartbeat against her back and the hard line of his blade at her side.

Then he lifted her.

"Cade—"

"Jump."

He threw her across the broken section of walkway.

Lena landed hard, rolled, and came up with the hooked weapon aimed at him.

Cade jumped after her.

His boot hit the edge.

The metal gave way.

He dropped.

Lena lunged and caught his forearm. The flood dragged at his legs below. His wounded shoulder screamed through the pact. Her knees struck the walkway, and pain shot up both legs.

"Let go," he said.

"Shut up."

"The railing's breaking."

"Then climb faster."

"Lena, let go."

"You don't get to order me around while hanging over a drain."

His free hand found the edge. The red lines had reached his jaw.

"If I lose control, I'll pull you in."

"Then don't lose control."

"You think I can just decide?"

"Yes. I do."

"Why?"

She tightened her grip until his sleeve cut into her palm.

"Because you keep choosing to save me."

His gaze locked on hers.

The tunnel screamed in a dozen borrowed voices.

Kneel.

Bring her.

Break her hand.

Cade's fingers dug into the edge. His body jerked as the command magic hit him. He pulled himself up, but his face went blank.

Lena saw it happen.

The man looking at her vanished behind something colder.

His hand turned.

The blade came up beneath his chin.

"Cade." Lena froze.

"Get back."

"Put the blade down."

"I'm not asking."

"And I'm not listening."

The edge pressed against his skin.

Through the pact, Lena felt the sharp line of danger cut across her own throat.

"Cade, look at me."

"Don't come closer."

"You said this thing wears voices. Whose is it using now?"

His mouth twisted. "Yours."

"Mine?"

"It's saying you told me to end it."

"I didn't."

"It sounds exactly like you."

"Then it's a cheap copy."

His grip shook.

"Cade, listen to me. You don't get to die because a tunnel learned my voice."

"You don't get to command me."

"Fine. I won't command you. I'll bargain."

"With what?"

She took one step forward.

His blade lifted higher.

"Stop."

"You want me to believe you're still in there? Prove it."

"How?"

"Tell me what you did the last time you killed me."

His face tightened. "No."

"Tell me."

"You don't need to know."

"I already know. You put a blade through my chest in the execution yard. You held me down when I tried to crawl away. You watched me die." Her voice shook, but she didn't stop. "Now tell me what you did after."

The blade trembled.

"I reset."

"That's not enough."

"I woke up."

"And?"

"I remembered your face."

"Good. Keep talking."

"I remembered the way you looked at me."

"Like I hated you?"

"You did."

"I still do."

"Liar."

The word came out rough. Almost like the old Cade.

Lena stopped three feet away. Water sprayed cold against her boots. His breath came fast. The blade was still at his throat.

"You want me to put it down?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Say it like an order."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't need another person holding a leash."

His eyes dropped to her mouth.

The pause hit harder than the flood.

"Lena," he said.

"What?"

"If I give you the blade, the voice gets closer."

"Then give me something else."

"What?"

She closed the distance.

His back hit the tunnel wall. The blade stayed between them, but his free hand caught her hip to keep her from slipping. His palm was hot through her clothes. His breath touched her cheek.

"You said the order has to be sealed," she whispered.

"That was Evelyn's recording. We don't know if it's real."

"You believe it enough to be afraid of it."

"I believe everything in this place wants us dead."

"Then let me make one choice that belongs to me."

His hand tightened at her hip.

"Lena, don't."

"You told me not to command you. I'm not."

"This could bind us tighter."

"We're already sharing pain. What else does the city want?"

His gaze dropped to her mouth. His fingers flexed against her side. The blade hovered between them, shaking with his breath.

"Lena, if you—"