Chapter 18 · Eat Or Die

"Get away from me, Kade. Just... get the hell back!"

Rook’s voice cracked, her back slammed against the rusted plating of the shipping container. She wasn't looking at me. She was looking at my arm—or what was left of it. The skin was bubbling, peeling back like burnt plastic to reveal something jagged and iridescent underneath. The Gene-Eater wasn't just glitching; it was starving.

I didn't move. I couldn't. My lungs felt like they were filled with wet concrete, and every breath was a jagged razor blade. The hunger wasn't in my stomach. It was in my marrow. It was a screaming, white-hot void that wanted to tear the world apart just to find something to chew on.

"I can't," I rasped. My voice sounded like two stones grinding together. "Rook, I can't stop it."

"Then fight it!" she snapped, though her eyes were wide, darting toward the alley entrance. "You're a mutant, not a mindless dog. Control your damn self before I put a bullet in your shoulder just to wake you up."

I took a step forward. The movement was wrong. My joints popped with a metallic click, a sound that didn't belong in a human body.