Chapter 32 · Monster Breaks Out

"Kade! Look at me! Stop it right now!" Rook’s voice cracked, barely audible over the screech of tearing metal.

I didn’t hear her. Not really. All I heard was the roar of the Gene-Eater, a starving beast in my skull that had finally snapped its leash. My vision was a strobe light of glitchy red and jagged black. The world didn’t look like a city anymore—it looked like a buffet of chrome and circuitry, and I was the only one with a fork.

I slammed my fist into the reinforced bulkhead of the transport. The steel didn't just dent; it shrieked and peeled back like wet cardboard.

"Kade, you're losing it!" Rook screamed. She lunged for me, her fingers digging into the rough fabric of my jacket, trying to yank me back from the edge.

I swung my arm. I didn't mean to hit her, but the speed was wrong. The mutation was too fast. I caught her across the shoulder, sending her spinning into the crates of salvaged tech.

"Get away from me!" I roared. The sound wasn't human.