Chapter 25 · The First Device

"Then you should know when I'm lying."

Kane's eyes found mine through the smoke. The ladder shook beneath my boots, and somewhere below us, water rushed through the dark.

"I know when you're hiding something."

"Good."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I didn't take it as one."

The ladder dropped into a flooded tunnel. I hit the water hard. Cold soaked through my boots and climbed my legs.

My foot slid.

Kane caught my hand before I went under.

I tried to yank free.

His grip tightened. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't pretend you can keep standing when you're shaking."

"I'm shaking because you keep dragging me into fires."

"You followed me."

"You made sure I couldn't stay behind."

"You signed the contract."

"You cornered me with my Bureau and my father's crimes."

His thumb brushed over the red mark around my wrist. Careful. Almost gentle.

Too intimate for a filthy tunnel filling with smoke.

"You signed anyway," he said.

I tore my hand from his. "Give me one reason not to regret it."

For once, Kane had no answer.

Lena did.

"Because without him, you'd already be dead."

I spun on her. "You don't know me.