Chapter 19 · Break Into Helion

"Move your feet or I'll break them," Jax hissed, his voice barely a whisper over the comms.

I didn't move. I couldn't. I was pinned against the cold titanium wall of the Helion detention wing, my wrists locked in dampening cuffs that hummed with a low, irritating frequency. Every time I tried to summon a flicker of gravity, the collar around my neck tightened, digging into my windpipe.

"I'm trying!" I snapped back, straining against the metal. "The dampeners are tuned to my signature. I can't even lift a pebble, let alone a door."

"Then stop whining and hold still," Jax replied. I could hear the rapid-fire clicking of his keyboard from the van outside. "I'm bypassing the biometric lock. Just... don't breathe too loud. The guards in this sector are uptight."

I leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes. The air in Helion tasted like ozone and expensive floor wax. It was the headquarters of the Hero Association—the place where the 'good guys' played by the rules. Except the rules usually involved locking people like me in white rooms until we forgot what sunlight looked like.

Suddenly, the lock clicked.