“I figured once we were clear of the dungeon, you’d lead us out of here.” He stood stiffly in front of her, almost daring her to laugh.
Still, he wasalmostasking for directions, so she’d cut him some slack. She gestured to the wall. “See the colored lines? They provide location and directional information. Once I know where we are, I can figure out how to get us out of the building.”
Dizzie tugged him into an alcove. “I don’t know if there are cameras,” she said, pressing close to him. She studied the color coding, air tracing her fingers over the lines and dredging up old memories.
“We’re still a few levels below the clinic. It’s the red and white stripe.” She twisted to look at him. “We’re not going to the clinic, are we?”
“We’re not going to the clinic.”
“Okay, good.” Avoiding the infirmary was fine with her. “When we don’t show up at the clinic, they’ll come looking for us, you know.”
Killian didn’t respond, but tension radiated off him, filling the tiny alcove around them.
Okay. Fine. She could plan her own rescue.
She focused on all the colors and what they represented.
“Blue is the dorms. They’re probably watching for us there. Purple is the main offices. Definitely not going there.” A handful more colors and matching locations and none of them presented a good option. Except…
“Green it is,” she murmured.
“Where does green go?” Killian asked.
His breath fluttered over her nape, caressing the exposed skin. She exhaled slowly and reached deep for her focus. “Green will get us out of the building.” She grimaced. It wouldn’t be pretty. “Let’s go. The sooner we’re out of here, the sooner I can go my way and you can go yours.”
She’d barely stepped into the corridor when Killian grabbed her elbow and pulled her back into the alcove. Not expecting the move, she stumbled into him, hands pressed against his chest to stop her momentum.
Do not lean into him, Dizzie.
Proximity short-circuited her brain. “What are you doing? We need to go!”
With his free hand, Killian tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. “You can’t seriously think I’m letting you out of my sight.”
It took her a moment to realize he’d meant to intimidate her. Dizzie laughed.
They were on her turf now, in the halls she played in as a child. Down here, his glower was cute but ineffective.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” She settled her hands on her hips. “Let me go. I’ll disappear. No muss, no fuss. You can focus on who actually sent the bomb.”
He shook his head before she stopped speaking, his lips pressed together in disapproval. “Not going to happen. I didn’t rescue you from that cell to let you disappear. You have answers I need.”
Answers? “I told you everything I know.”
“I don’t believe you. I’m not letting you go until I do.” His voice had taken on that investor imperiousness again.
Dizzie stepped backward. She’d been wrong. It wasn’t hot—it was actually kind of scary. If she made a break for it, could she lose him?
She knew how to get out, but Killian still had a grip on her elbow. She could hurt him, but that would only get her in more trouble. Better to make him want to be rid of her.
“Say we do get out of the building. Where are we going?” She tugged her arm free.
He opened his mouth. Closed it.
“Shit. You don’t know, do you?” She was sure he was going to deny it. But he didn’t.
“I hadn’t thought that far. Getting you out of the building was my top priority.” Killian swiped a hand through his hair, briefly exposing an angry red cut before his hair settled over it again.
