Chapter 21 · It Knows Her Name

"Get your hands off me, Kade. Now."

Rook’s voice was a jagged blade, but she was shaking. I could feel it through the thin fabric of her tactical jacket, her shoulder trembling against my chest. I didn’t let go. I couldn’t. My fingers were locked into the crook of her arm, and it wasn't just because I was trying to steady her.

Inside my skull, the Gene-Eater was screaming. Not a sound—a vibration. A hunger. It felt like a thousand microscopic needles trying to stitch themselves into my gray matter, pulling my consciousness toward the chrome embedded in her spine.

"I'm not letting you walk into that room alone," I spat. My own voice sounded wrong—too deep, vibrating with a metallic hum that wasn't there an hour ago. "You can barely stand. Look at you."

"I can stand just fine," she snapped, trying to wrench herself away. She failed. I didn't even have to squeeze; I just stayed still, and she hit me like a bird flying into a glass window.

She stopped, her breath hitching. She looked up at me, and for the first time, the corporate ice in her eyes was cracked. There was fear there.