Kira picked Pumpkin up. “Can we really take her? It's already so dangerous.”
“We're not leaving your damn cat.”
A slow smile came over her face. She nodded.
“The sedative should keep her asleep until halfway through the flight. She may need another one up there.” Now he offered her a pouch. “This is for you if you want it. It'll calm your nerves. Brock says one or…”
Kira swallowed one dry. She definitely needed it.
He chuckled. “One or two.”
“I'll keep this close.” She waved the pouch and then stuck it in her pocket.
“This is for you too. Please be careful.”
Kira recognized the slim, led-lined tube. Uranium. “Whoa.”
When she slipped it into her bra, Zayne twisted his face. “That’s not the best idea.”
“What else am I going to do with it?” She asked. “I'm not putting it in the bag with the cat. I need quick access, and a pocket is too obvious. If any radiation leaks, the Pixi Dust will eat it up right away.”
He sighed. “Fine. It's supposed to be safe. Just be careful.”
“Obviously, I will be.”
Rolling his shoulders, he looked up at the ceiling like he was thinking. “There's one more important detail. I'm providing the United with a wealth of intel, but only once you're safe. My friend will contact you, and you're the only one who can give him permission to share the data. Tell him the last thing I said to you the night we met. Otherwise, he'll know you're being coerced.”
“Okay.” Kira rubbed her arms. “Don't say it like you won't be there.”
“It's just in case.”
“I don't want to hear in case.”
“Then how about so I don't have to tell you later.”
“Better. How much time do we have?”
“Fourteen minutes.”
“Do we have to climb buildings this time?”
He smirked and shook his head. “No climbing.”
How did he look so calm? In fact, Zayne seemed less tense than normal. “Aren't you nervous?”
“I don't think about it. You shouldn't either.” He pulled his bag onto his back and then walked closer to her. “I've seen you under pressure. You can do this. Stop thinking.”
“I can't because last time you threw yourself between me and the people shooting at me.”
“I'm a soldier. I'm supposed to be in the line of fire.”
“No human being is supposed to be in the path of a bullet. Not one. That's a lie programmed into you so you'll tear your body apart and die without complaint. Because—”
Zayne cupped the back of her head and leaned in to look her hard in the eyes. “Stop. Thinking. Now.”
The touch was so brief, but it tied her words in her mouth, and she realized she'd been talking so fast. Thinking so fast.
Now he passed a pocketknife to her.
