Chapter 14 · Stuck With Her

"Don't you dare light that thing up in here." Lena's forearm hit my chest and pinned me to the pipe wall before I could even sit up. "You pulse once and every hound in this district gets a ping on us."

"I'm not doing it on purpose," I hissed. My back scraped rust. The sigil under my skin was already buzzing. "It does it by itself when you're—"

"When I'm what?" She leaned in closer. Her breath hit my cheek. Cold. Fast. "Say it."

"When you're that close!" I said. "It thinks you're a threat or— I don't know, it likes you. It lights up whenever you're near."

"Great. So it's got a crush. That's just perfect." She didn't move her arm. Her eyes flicked to the thin line of light crawling up my forearm. The gear-marks were waking up. "Make it stop. Now."

"How? You think I have a switch?" I tried to shove her arm off. She didn't budge. "Get off me and maybe it calms down."

"If I get off you, you run." Her knee pressed harder against my leg. We were jammed in a maintenance closet that wasn't even a closet.