Chapter 28 · Wake the Wrong Brother

"Don't touch him." Kane's voice came out half growl, half warning.

I didn't listen. My hands were already on Eli's chest, feeling for a pulse that shouldn't be there. The core hummed behind us, that sick golden light spilling across the metal floor like oil. Eli's skin was cold. Too cold. But his chest moved. Shallow. Wrong.

"Evie." Kane grabbed my wrist. His fingers burned. "Step back."

"He's breathing."

"That's not breathing. That's the core keeping meat alive."

I yanked my hand free. "He's my brother."

"He's bait." Kane's eyes flicked to the core, then back to Eli. The gold in his irises pulsed. "Marcus didn't leave him here to rot. He left him here to make you do something stupid."

"Like what? Save him?"

"Like feed the core what it wants."

I looked down at Eli. His face was gaunt, hollowed out. The veins under his skin ran dark, threading up his neck like roots. But it was him. Same scar on his eyebrow from when he jumped off the garage roof at twelve. Same crooked front tooth.

"Mom's recording said if he wakes up, I should kill him." My voice cracked.