Chapter 10 · Eat or Bleed

"Get your hands off me!" Rook screamed, her voice cracking as we slammed into the trash heap.

It wasn't a soft landing. We hit a mountain of discarded synth-flesh and rusted plating with a bone-jarring thud. I didn't let go. I couldn't. My fingers were locked around her wrist, my knuckles white, while the air was knocked out of both of us in one violent gasp.

"Shut up," I wheezed, pinning her against a damp, metallic wall. "Just... shut up and breathe."

I could feel her heart hammering against my chest, a frantic rhythm that matched the pulsing heat in my own skull. But it wasn't just fear. The chip—the Gene-Eater—was screaming. It wasn't a sound, but a vibration in my marrow, a starving animal clawing at the inside of my ribs. It wanted more. It wanted her.

"You're shaking," Rook whispered, her eyes wide, darting from my face to the dark alleyway above us. "Kade, you're literally vibrating. What is happening?"

"I don't know," I spat. I tried to pull back, but my muscles locked. A sudden spike of agony shot through my left temple, and I groaned, my forehead dropping to rest against hers.

Too close.