Chapter 29 · He's Under Kane's Skin

"Kane, look at me." I grabbed his face with both hands. His skin burned like fever, but his eyes were somewhere else. Somewhere dark.

"Don't." His voice came out wrong. Flat. Like someone reading lines off a card. "Don't touch me right now."

"Too late." I dug my thumbs into his jaw, forcing him to focus. "What did Marcus do? What's he got on you?"

Kane's mouth opened. Closed. His hand shot up and locked around my wrist, hard enough to bruise. "Evie. Run."

"Not happening."

"I'm serious." His grip tightened. The gold in his eyes flickered, then went muddy. "I can feel him. He's crawling around in here like he owns the place."

Nora stepped up beside me, hands already reaching for Kane's pulse point. "What do you mean, crawling around? Is this possession or chemical?"

"Both." Kane's laugh came out jagged. "He pumped something into the core three days ago. Said it was a stabilizer. Turns out it was a back door."

"A back door into what?" I yanked my wrist free and shoved his shoulder. "Into you?"

"Into anyone connected to the core." Kane swayed on his feet. Nora caught his elbow, but he shook her off.