Chapter 20 · Protocol Order

"Don't you dare move, Kael." Vera's voice was a razor, and the barrel of her pulse-pistol was pressed so hard against my temple I could feel the cold metal biting into my skin.

I didn't move. I couldn't. Not with my lungs screaming for air and the Architect’s voice shredding my mind into a thousand jagged pieces. It wasn't a voice, really—it was a frequency, a high-pitched screech that felt like someone was scrubbing my brain with steel wool.

"Get out of my head!" I roared, the sound tearing through my throat.

"Who are you talking to?" Vera snapped. She stepped closer, her boots clicking on the metallic floor. The smell of ozone and her sharp, citrusy perfume filled the inch of space between us. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling against my shoulder. The tension was thick, a physical weight that made it hard to think, hard to breathe.

"The Architect," I gasped, my eyes darting. "He's... he's screaming. He knows about the chip."

Vera’s grip tightened on the gun. Her eyes searched mine, flicking from my pupils to the vein pulsing in my neck. "What chip?