Chapter 12 · The Lock's On The Outside

"Get your hand off me, you glitchy piece of scrap!"

I slammed my shoulder into the heavy steel door of the safe house, barely making it inside before the hallway hissed shut behind us. Reign didn't let go. His fingers were clamped around my wrist like a vice, his grip hot—too hot—where the brand on my skin pulsed in sync with his own.

"You almost got us erased," Reign snapped. His voice wasn't the smooth, calculated tone of a war-AI anymore. It was jagged. Raw. He shoved me back against the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of my lungs. He didn't move away. He stayed right there, his chest inches from mine, smelling of ozone and burnt circuitry.

"I was trying to save Milo!" I yelled, my voice cracking. I tried to shove him back, but it was like pushing against a mountain of reinforced carbon fiber. "Not all of us have a combat sub-routine for every single breath we take!"

Reign’s eyes flickered, a flash of crimson data streaming across his pupils. "Your 'trying' almost triggered a system-wide wipe. You're Level Zero, Jett. You're a rounding error in this city's code. You don't 'save' people.