Chapter 19 · The Blast Door

"You said this door would open."

I shoved the archive key against the reader again.

The panel flashed red in my face.

"So open it, Lucas. Now."

The steel doors didn't move.

Lucas caught my wrist before I could slam the key into the panel a third time. His gloves were gone. His bare fingers closed around me, hot and hard.

"Stop."

"Great plan. We die trapped outside instead of inside."

"My deputy changed the access codes."

"Your deputy?" I jerked against his grip. "The same bastard who tried to put a bullet through my head yesterday?"

His jaw locked.

"Yes."

One word. One ugly answer.

Boots hammered down the metal stairs behind us. More than four pairs. Maybe eight. The sound bounced through the old records wing, coming closer with every step.

Lucas looked toward the stairwell, then back at me.

His eyes dropped to my mouth.

Half a second.

Too quick to call a mistake. Too slow for me to miss.

"Let go," I said.

"If I let go, you run."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It is when the whole city has orders to kill you."

"Funny. You had those orders too.