He nudges me with a steel elbow and frowns. “Give it to me now.”
“Why?” I ask, cradling it against me.
“Because I need to override the control circuits. Unless you want to be one of the Caelum puppets, then by all means—” He leans back and folds his arms across his broad chest, waiting.
Just as I begin to consider all the consequences of handing it over, he swipes it from my grasp. Again, he moves so fast I don’t see it coming until the damn faceplate is out of my hands and in his. “Look, watch what I’m doing so you know how to do this.” He turns the armor over and just behind the top of the forehead there’s a small plate that slides to the right. Inside, he yanks out a blue pronged metal wire. “If you don’t trust me you could always plug this back in.” His eyes flash up to mine, “That is, if you ever want to be assimilated into the Caelum.”
Um. No thanks.
He shoves the faceplate into my chest. “Your choice.”
“Thanks,” I murmur back.
Jex waits and listens for what’s happening on the other side.
After a few quiet minutes, he slides open a panel in the wall, grips my wrist tight, and pulls me through.
The room blurs, and terror, hot and fast, slams through me. I squeak out a small scream and stagger back.
Three enormous Caelum are in the room, lunging forward, reaching out to grab me.
