Chapter 31 · Switch

"Say it." Marco's palm slams flat against the door beside my head, close enough that his breath fogs against my collarbone.

"Say you stay as the die, Lila. Out loud."

"Get off me." My spine's already against steel. Cold enough to burn. The emergency light overhead ticks red, then dies, then ticks red again — like it can't decide if we're worth the power.

"Twenty-two minutes of air left in this room." He says it like a menu item.

"You want to spend them arguing?"

"I want you to move your hand." He doesn't. His thumb finds the collar of my coat and drags it sideways, just enough to bare the curve of my throat to the cold. I feel the seam give — a soft rip, thread snapping under his grip, and the sound of it lands louder than it should in a room this quiet.

"You tore my coat."

"I'll buy you ten." His mouth is an inch from my ear. Low. Rough at the edges.

"Say it, and I open the panel." The panel. Six inches to my right —