Chapter 12 · Echoes of Betrayal

"Put the blade down, Zero."

"Give me one reason."

Kael's back hit the cracked mining wall hard enough to shake dust from the ceiling. Zero's knife pressed under his jaw. One twitch would open him from throat to collarbone.

He kept both hands raised. Not because he was afraid of the knife. He was afraid of what would happen if she used it.

"You lied to me," she said.

"I left out details."

"You lied."

"Fine. I lied."

Her eyes narrowed. The thin black lines around her pupils pulsed once, then faded. Victor's eyes had done the same thing on the screen.

Kael saw it. He couldn't stop looking.

Zero noticed.

"There. Again." The knife pushed harder. "You look at my eyes like you know what they mean."

"I know what they shouldn't mean."

"Try me."

"Your neural pattern changed after the drug hit."

"The drug you forced into me?"

"The drug that stopped your pain."

"For four minutes."

"Four minutes is more than you had before."

"And now my eyes match Victor's. So tell me what you did."

Her voice stayed flat, but her hand didn't. The blade trembled against his skin.