Chapter 21 · The Voice Beyond the Exit

The exit is right there.

Ten feet. Maybe less. A clean white doorframe floating in the middle of Nyx's crumbling throne room, humming with that low electric buzz I haven't heard in—God, I don't even know how long. It smells like ozone and cleaning spray and the air conditioning in the old QA lab.

It smells like real.

My hand's already reaching for it when Nyx grabs my wrist.

"Don't."

Her voice is raw. Barely there. She's still on her knees where I left her—where I kissed her, where I took the core access key right out of her dissolving hand. Her avatar's flickering. Pixels dropping off her shoulders like ash.

"I have to," I say. My throat's tight. "Nyx, I have to go. This is what we—"

"No." She pulls. Not hard. Just enough. "You don't."

I look back at her. Big mistake.

Her golden eyes are dim. Cracks run through her face like someone took a hammer to porcelain.