n and waited, and the corridor had gone so quiet I cou

grounds?"

, subsection four. The detective's registration has been flagge

isor. You will s

sheet of paper inside with a red seal at the bottom and four l

ed," Rolf said. "It does

r closed the folder. "Unless he refuses

ould see Anya standing by the table with her coat in her hands, watching the corridor through the glass. If I went w

me five minutes to file the c

this. "Three minutes. W

d there with their backs to the wall, and Rolf

oing to that r

t have a

to ask you questions. They are going to take your registration card, take a blood sample, and put you in front of a committee that has already decided what t

ind of

an old rejection and not a live bond. If the committee finds out the registry is wrong, they will not cor

now, a dull ache, and under my fingers I could feel the ol

do we have

itive by morning, and the warrant will name her too." He nodded at the interview room. "She is not registered with the Bureau, she has no

t do you

a review. A registered bond. If the two of you walk into the registry office tonight and file a bond card, the committee has nothing to review. A Severance requires a he

ot bonded

ain. The registry says unbonded. My nose says otherwise. Whatever it says on paper, the committee will believe th

t. Anya had put her coat back on and was standi

is hap

ere is a way to stop it. If we file a bond card tonight, the review is void. They cannot order a Severance on a registered bond wi

"You want to regist

us both out of a

of what was done to it, and you want to walk into a registry office and sign a card that says we are a mated pair." She laughed, and it was not a warm sound.

l have to be

ittle panel at the corridor. The officers we

ing to survive a review by hiding. We are going to have to go to them with a story they like better than the one they have." She turned

expen

erk in the registry office who owes my network a favor. If we go now, before the officers at the lift get impatient, she can file the card

. One minute left. "

l review him next." She picked up her coat. "You need to trust me on this, Elias. I have been playing th

ce set. "The officers have called their supervisor. You have ten minutes befor

e corridor. "Then we had bet

straight between them as if they were furniture, and I heard her say somethi

d and turned around and put her hand flat on my ches

ell like you want me. You do not look at me the way you looked at me at that crime scene. We are fil

derst

u touched me, you broke something I have not finished fix