Page 96 of Stay Scared

“Yeah. That too.”

I tighten the bandage.

“I’m glad.”

“You look pleased.”

“I am.”

I make another pass around his ribs. This time, when I lean close, his knees press lightly against my thighs. He leaves the space between them open, but the pressure makes it clear he has no interest in distance.

I secure the gauze and step back. Cade leans after me. Then catches himself and locks his hands on the table again.

The timer reads 05:46. A little over five minutes until the mechanical system lets us back into the corridor. Assuming Rook has not changed something on the other side.

“You have five minutes before that lock clears. Sit still and make sure you can stand when it does.”

“I’ll stay down until the last minute.”

I lean against the workbench opposite him. The founder key hangs outside my jacket now, one edge streaked with his blood.

Cade looks at it.

“Ash gave you the key.”

“I made him open his hand.”

“That sounds more like him.”

“He hated it.”

“He likes surrender when he gets to write the rules.”

“You all do.”

Cade rubs his thumb across one blood-darkened knuckle.

“I built my section inside a place that had already hurt someone.”

I wait.

“Ash told me the rules were different now. I wanted that to be enough because it meant I still got to chase you.”

“You trusted him.”

“I trusted what I wanted.”

He looks toward the steel door.

“When you tapped, I stopped. For about five minutes, I was pretty fucking proud of myself.”

“You grabbed me against a wall an hour later.”

“I did.”

His hands turn palm-up between his knees.

“I saw that picture from your apartment and lost my fucking mind.”