Page 57 of Shadow Burn

She didn’t jump, which she counted as progress, but her shoulders tightened before she could stop them.

Jasper stepped in carrying a plate, a bottle of water, and an expression that told her she wasn’t going to like him for the next few minutes. He’d changed into a black thermal and jeans sometime after lunch, but his hair was still slightly damp from whatever punishing run or shower had been necessary to keep him from putting his fist through a wall. He looked tired, though not in the way she was tired. Jasper’s exhaustion had edges. Hers felt like fog.

“You’re doing the thing again,” he said.

She looked down at the papers. “The thing where I work on the assignment that might keep me alive?”

“The thing where you read the same line until it blurs.”

“That’s a legitimate archival technique.”

He set the plate on the desk beside her notebook. “You’ve been awake for most of the past thirty-six hours. You’ve eaten half a biscuit, three bites of egg, two bites of a sandwich, and one piece of bacon that Priss didn’t steal.”

Katherine frowned. “That’s an alarming level of dietary surveillance.”

“I’ve been in full protection mode since someone shot at you. Dietary surveillance is included in the premium package.”

“Does the package come with fewer interruptions?”

“No.”

“Then I’d like to downgrade.”

“You don’t qualify.”

She tried to glare at him, but the attempt required more energy than she had. He noticed, because Jasper noticed everything, and some of the teasing eased from his face. “Katherine,” he said more quietly, “you’re done for a while.”

“I’m not done. I’m close.”

“To what?”

“To something.” She pushed the Vance page toward him because if she could make him see it, maybe the meaning would sharpen for her, too. “Look at this phrase. Discretionary containment pending final historical determination. Vance uses similar phrasing around Caldwell twice, and he notes that the Cinder risk is not closed. Legacy Shield didn’t exist yet, but the language does. Or the philosophy does. There’s a pre-program version of it here, Jasper. I know there is.”

He leaned over the page, reading quickly. His shoulder brushed hers. The contact was brief, probably accidental, and still her entire nervous system lit up like the Fourth of July. That was becoming a problem. A large one. A very inconveniently timed large problem.

“You’re probably right,” he said.

“I need to keep going.”

He gently touched her cheek where the scratch was still an ugly reminder of what had happened. “You need sleep.”

“I’ll sleep when we know who tried to kill me.”

He straightened and picked up the plate. “Your mind is not going to get more accurate if you fall asleep on a Vance letter and drool on a potential evidence item.”

“I don’t drool.”

“Everyone drools.”

Priss lifted her head and chirped as if contributing expert testimony.

Katherine pointed at her. “No one asked you.”

Jasper’s mouth curved. “She agrees with me.”

“She agrees with whoever is most likely to feed her.”

The cat was sniffing the air, locked onto the plate and the offerings on it. “She’s wise.”