Chapter 33 · Borrowed Heartbeat

Fifty-nine seconds.

Mara's hands were already inside Kade's chest. Not literally. The access panel sat open below his collarbone, circuits blinking red under the dim work light she'd jury-rigged to the cage bars. Her fingertips hovered over the core's interface plate. One wire. One restart command. And every single explosive collar in the camp would short out.

Or Kade's heart would stop.

Fifty-four.

The timer wasn't loud. Just a soft pulse from the core, synced to his actual heartbeat. She could feel it under her palm when she steadied herself against his ribs. Warm skin. Too warm. Fever or panic, she couldn't tell. His eyes were on her face. Not the core. Not the wire in her other hand. Just her.

"You should be watching this," she said. Her voice came out rough. "In case I screw it up."

"You won't."

"You don't know that."

"I know you."

Forty-eight.

Her brother's collar was one of two hundred and sixteen in this camp. She'd counted them on the stolen manifest Juno had pulled. Tracked the serial numbers against the Oryx contractor database. Found Teagan's ID buried six pages deep. Dormitory C, bunk forty-one. He'd been here nine months.