Chapter 13 · The Glitch

"Get back. Now."

Kane snarled the command, but it didn't snap through my head like a whip this time. No shock. No forced obedience. Just... words. Just a man shouting at me.

I didn't budge. I stayed right where I was, chest heaving, staring him down. The air between us felt thick, charged with something that wasn't just the ozone and blood drifting in from the breach.

I saw it then. His hands were shaking.

The Savage King—the man who could level a city block without breaking a sweat—was actually trembling.

"Did you hear me?" he barked, stepping into my space. He lunged, fingers digging into my shoulder. "I said get back!"

I looked up at him and let out a sharp, jagged laugh. "What happened, Kane? Did the leash break?"

His eyes flashed a dangerous, burning red. But there was a glitch in the system. That crushing weight he usually radiated—the kind that made me want to drop to my knees—was flickering.

He looked at me. Then at the mark on my wrist. Then back to my eyes. He looked terrified.