Chapter 19 · Bad Blood

"Get your hands off me, you glitchy freak!" Rook’s voice cracked, but she still managed to shove my chest with enough force to send me reeling back against the rusted surgical table.

I didn't move. I couldn't. My vision was swimming in jagged neon streaks, and the Gene-Eater in my skull was screaming—not a sound, but a vibration that rattled my teeth. It wasn't just hunger anymore. It was a goddamn famine. Every nerve ending in my left arm felt like it was being peeled back by a hot razor.

"I can't... I can't stop it," I gasped, my voice sounding like gravel in a blender. I lunged forward, not to attack, but because the gravity in the room seemed to shift toward her. "Rook, please. It's burning."

She backed away, her boots clicking sharply on the grimy tile. Her eyes were wide, flickering between the door and the twitching, metallic veins pulsing under the skin of my forearm. She knew exactly what was happening. She’d seen the data.