Chapter 34 · Forbidden Resonance

"Stop pretending you don't feel it."

Kael's hand locked around my wrist. Not hard enough to bruise. Hard enough I wasn't going anywhere. His chest nearly brushed my shoulder and heat rolled off him in a wave.

"Feel what?" I snapped. "You lying to me for weeks? Or the sledgehammer in my skull?"

His fingers tightened. Just a fraction. Pulled me closer. "The frequency, Sloane. You're not just spiking. You're mimicking. Something that shouldn't even be in this room."

I yanked. He didn't budge. Granite. "Maybe I'm reacting to finding out I'm a cosmic spare tire? You knew about her. You watched me struggle. Some loyalty, Kael."

"I was protecting the only version that mattered," he said, voice dropping. He crowded me back until the desk hit my spine. His body caged me in. "The other one was a void. You're a storm. And you're leaking."

"And when the storm hits?" I tipped my chin up. My heart was slamming my ribs. "You put me in a cage? Tell me it's for my own good while you keep the key?"

He didn't answer. His eyes dropped. Just a second. To my mouth. Too long to be an accident.