Chapter 16 · The Voice in the File

"My lord?" I snapped. "You want me to say it again?"

"Say it."

The guard repeated the words. Flat. Clean. Too clean.

I stepped in front of the line. "Again."

The second guard spoke. Then the third.

Same sentence. Different voices.

Stone pressed in around us. Metal groaned under our boots. Every few seconds, the damaged station clicked like a rotten tooth.

"Again," I ordered.

The guards traded nervous looks.

Kane's voice cut through the room. "You heard her."

They repeated the line.

The fourth guard flinched.

Tiny movement. One shoulder jerking. Breath catching behind his teeth.

I turned on him. "You. Say it again."

His face went blank. "I already did."

"Again."

"Why?"

"Because your last word dropped too low. Kane's voice does that when he's threatening someone." I took one step closer. "Yours did it when you said gate."

Kane moved.

The guard's back slammed into the wall. Kane's forearm crushed across his chest, and his sword flashed beneath the man's chin.

"Give me one reason," Kane said.

"Kane." I stepped between them. "Don't."

"He reached for a weapon."

"And you reached for murder. We're both having a hell of a night."

The guard's mouth twisted.