Chapter 29 · Backdoor in the Brain

"Take your hand off me, Kael, or I break it."

His fingers stayed around her wrist.

Not tighter. Not looser. Just there, warm against the metal-banded skin where the pain had started crawling again.

"You can try," he said.

Zero drove her knee toward his ribs.

Kael twisted with it. Her knee missed. His shoulder hit the bulkhead behind him, and her wrist dragged him close enough for her breath to brush his jaw.

For half a second, neither of them moved.

His pulse beat under her thumb.

Fast.

Good. He could be afraid.

"You're enjoying this," she said.

"You threatening to break my bones? A little."

"Then smile."

"I am smiling."

"That is your terrified face?"

"You should see me when you're not actively trying to kill me."

The pain in her skull spiked.

Zero's grip failed. Her fingers opened, and she stumbled sideways. Kael caught her before her shoulder slammed into the wall. One hand locked around her upper arm. The other pressed flat to the back of her neck.

The contact hit like a switch.

White flooded her vision.

"Don't," she snapped.

"I'm not doing anything."

"You're inside my head."

"Not yet.