Page 70 of Knight

Halfway up, her foot slips. The small sound that escapes her makes my heart jump. My hand finds her shoulder.

“You’re okay.” I keep my voice steady. “Take a breath. Reset your foot ... That’s it.”

She takes in a couple of deep breaths, eyes closed.

“Ready?”

She nods, and we continue the climb. Each foot of progress shows more of her determination. The way she pushes through her obvious fear, refusing to give up, earns her my grudging …verygrudging … respect.

We’re just below my balcony when her fingers slip. I shift closer, catching her arm.

“We’re almost there. Don’t die on me now. It’d be hard to explain the blood stains on the ground.”

“That’s not funny!” But she wipes a hand down her thigh, and then adjusts her grip.

“Let me go over first, then I’ll help you up.” I scale the last few feet, and pull myself over the railing, then turn and reach down, and lift her over. She collapses against me, her heart hammering so hard I can feel it through both our shirts. My arms curve around her automatically, while she catches her breath.

“Breathe.” My voice is rougher than I intend it to be. “You did good.”

She lifts her head, and I’m sure she’s about to tell me she’s never doing that again, but whatever words she planned die when our eyes meet. She’s too close. Her face flushed from exertion, lips parted, eyes bright from the adrenaline rush. My hand moves to cup her face, thumb brushing across her cheek.

The contact feels like a live wire, sending jolts of electricity through my system. For one dangerous moment, I consider closing the tiny distance that separates us and kissing her. Instead, I step back, and force myself to focus on unclipping the safety lines.

“Let’s get inside. There’s work to do.”

Her breathing changes at my abrupt tone, but I turn toward the balcony door, and focus on the lock. The mechanism yields to my override code—another piece of evidence that the explosions were targeted. Some systems disabled, others left functional, creating the path Victor wanted me to take.

Somehow, I can’t shake the feeling that this growing attraction between us is also part of his plan too. Victor knows what buttons to push. He would know what kind of person would get under my skin.

Her determination, her resilience, even the way she pushes back against my control … how much of that is by design?

The thought should make me pull away completely. I should send her away, remove her from my life, cut all ties right now. Instead, I find myself watching how she’s already steadying her breathing, and gathering herself to face whatever will come next.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Evangeline

The balcony doorsloom ahead of us, and I can just about make out the security shutters on the inside of the glass. A week ago, I’d have questioned why someone would need such extreme security measures. Now? Not so much.

Knight crouches to the left of the doors, and flips open another fake stone. There’s a hidden keypad behind it, and his fingers move quickly over the buttons. A red light blinks once, then turns green. There’s a loud click, then the security shutters rise up.

Knight straightens, and pushes down the handle. The door swings open.

“Be careful. There’s still no power inside.”

The apartment is deathly quiet without any power running, and it’s hard to see anything beyond the small circle of light near the door. Knight’s hand finds my arm, guiding me through the room. My knee catches something solid, and Knight’s grip on my arm tightens briefly, before he guides me around what I assume is the coffee table.

The door to his workspace yields to another sequence of codes.

“Don’t move.” His voice comes from somewhere ahead. “Let me get some basic power running first.”

Something clicks, then whirs to life. A single screen flickers on, casting just enough light to see Knight’s profile as he works.

“Won’t the virus start attacking again?”

“Yes, but I understand how it works now, and I’m not working against a clock. I should be able to contain it quickly.”

More systems come online, pushing back the darkness. The familiar hum of equipment fills the air, along with rising warmth from processors waking up. Knight moves to a second keyboard, and a few minutes later the lights flicker on.

---