Chapter 18 · Her Heartbeat Is Here

The file's still loading when Kade walks in.

I don't turn around. My hand's on the tablet Claire gave me, and the screen's cycling through about fifteen different decryption layers. My sister's handwriting is buried in there somewhere. I can feel it.

"You're supposed to be resting," I say.

"So are you."

I look up. He's standing in the doorway, one hand braced on the frame like he's holding himself upright. The light from the hall cuts across his face and I can see the way his jaw's tight, the way his pupils are too wide. He's been awake for forty-eight hours and his body's starting to eat itself from the inside out.

"Claire said you pulled the trigger on the recall shutdown," I say. "She said you might have six hours before your system crashes."

"Then I've got six hours."

"Kade—"

"Don't." He steps inside and the door clicks shut behind him. "You're not stopping me."

I set the tablet down. "I'm not trying to stop you. I'm trying to understand what the hell you think you're doing."

"I'm making sure the signal doesn't go live again.