Chapter 29 · The Name He Buried

Lucas stepped into the open, blood soaking through his coat.

"Look at me," he shouted. "Captain Rusk just sentenced everyone below this platform to die. Stand with him, or walk out alive."

Rusk's face twisted. "Shoot him!"

Two rifles snapped up.

I grabbed Mara's arm. "Pull!"

Lucas turned toward us.

The rifles fired.

He crossed the platform in two strides and threw himself over me and Mara. One bullet punched through his shoulder. The other tore through his coat and smashed into the stone behind us.

His body slammed across my back. Heat. Blood. The sharp bite of gunpowder trapped beneath his coat.

"Lucas!"

"Move," he grunted. "Get the child out."

"You're bleeding."

"I noticed."

"You took those shots for me."

"Don't make it sentimental."

"Trust me. I wasn't planning to."

I shoved up onto one elbow and hooked my fingers under the inner latch. The metal burned my skin. I bit down hard to keep from screaming.

Nothing moved.

"It's locked!"

"Manual release."

"Where?"

"Under the seal. Left side."

Yellow gas rolled through the chamber.

Mara's fingers slipped from mine. "I can't see!"

"Don't let go," I told her. "Mara, stay with me."

Lucas shoved his hand past mine.