Chapter 21 · You'd Have to Catch Me First

"You'd have to catch me first."

I ducked under Kane's arm and drove my knife into the lock.

The door shrieked open.

Two people stumbled through it—a man in a torn archive uniform and a woman with silver restraints biting into both wrists.

Filthy. Shaking.

Alive.

The woman saw Kane and slammed back against the wall.

"No," she whispered. "He said you'd come alone."

Kane stopped cold. "Who said that?"

The man grabbed her arm. "Don't talk."

I turned on him. "You don't get to order her around."

His eyes snapped to me. "You brought him here."

"He got you out of the door."

"He sealed us in!"

Kane's face went blank. Too blank.

"When?" he asked.

The woman flinched. "Six years ago. The lower archive collapsed. Your seal came down while we were inside."

I looked at Kane.

His eyes stayed on the witnesses, but his hand found mine. Not gentle. Not asking.

He linked our fingers and pulled me against his side.

"I never ordered a seal on that archive," he said.

The man gave a bitter laugh. "Your voice gave the order. We heard it through the gate."

"The recording," I said. "You heard the same voice."