Chapter 7 · she whispered

She landed against him, hard enough to knock the air from his lungs. His hand stayed at her side. Her fingers curled into the front of his jacket. For a beat, neither of them moved.

Her face was inches from his.

"Move," she whispered.

"You keep saying that."

"Because you keep staring."

"Your face is cracked."

"Your face is worse."

"You noticed?"

"I notice threats."

Vargas tore free of the electrical lock and swung at them.

Kael shoved Nyx down. The punch missed her head and smashed into the wall. Kael drove his knee into Vargas's stomach, then grabbed Nyx's hand and ran.

They crossed the service corridor as alarms started screaming. Imperial soldiers poured through the far hatch. Red targeting beams cut across the smoke.

"Left," Nyx said.

"That goes toward the loading bay."

"Correct."

"There are soldiers there."

"Also correct."

"You are terrible at directions."

"I am excellent at directions. You are terrible at surviving them."

Kael pulled her behind a stack of cargo crates as rifle fire chewed through the corridor wall. Metal fragments snapped past his ear.