Chapter 10 · Neural Overload

"Get your hands off me before I break them," Sloane hissed, though she didn't pull away. Her back was slammed against the damp brick of the alley wall, and Kael was too close. Way too close. His chest was heaving, the fabric of his thin shirt soaked through with a mix of rain and blood, pressing against her tactical vest.

Kael didn't move. He couldn't. His fingers were locked around her wrists, pinning them to the wall. He wasn't trying to hurt her—he was shaking. Every muscle in his body was vibrating with a frequency that felt like a live wire stripped of its insulation.

"You're glitching," Sloane whispered, her eyes scanning the jagged lines of blue light pulsing under the skin of his neck. "Your genes are collapsing, Kael. If you don't stabilize, you're going to blow a hole through your own frontal lobe."

"Then let me go," Kael gasped, his voice a raw scrape. "Let me... just burn out. Save yourself the paperwork."

"Not happening." Sloane twisted her arm, slipping a hand from his grip to grab the back of his neck. She forced him forward, dragging his forehead against hers. The contact was electric. Literally.