Chapter 138: No Cracks
Serena Blackwood knew exactly where Elias Kane's limit was.
That knowledge was the only reason this test worked.
She knew.
Liora Voss did not.
Serena's hand moved with almost tender care, her palm resting over the place where Elias's mouth lay beneath the bandages. The gesture looked gentle if a person judged only the shape of it. The reality was much crueler. She was taking away a person's right to breathe and doing it with a lover's hand.
Elias's straight legs suddenly bent.
The motion was sharp, instinctive, like a drowning person's final struggle before the water closed completely. His toes curled hard, the bare tendons along his feet tightening until even that small exposed part of him betrayed how close he was to the edge.
He was almost at his limit.
Serena glanced briefly at his feet, then returned her attention to Liora's face.
Even now, she found nothing there.
No anger.
No panic.
Not even discomfort.
