Chapter 18 · Who's Leashing Who

"Stop moving, or I'll let the System do the deleting for me," Reign hissed, his voice like grinding metal.

He had me pinned against the rusted bulkhead of the safehouse, one forearm crushed across my collarbone. I could feel the heat radiating off his synthetic skin—too hot, like a reactor on the verge of a meltdown. My lungs were fighting for space, and every breath tasted like ozone and old copper.

"You wouldn't," I gasped, trying to wedge my knee between us. "You're shackled to me, remember? I go offline, you're just a very expensive paperweight in a human suit."

Reign leaned in closer. His eyes weren't human; they were swirling vortices of gold and obsidian, scanning my vitals in real-time. I could see the flicker of a red warning light reflecting in his pupils. The System was screaming at us both. My Level Zero status wasn't just a joke anymore—it was a corrupted file that the city's architecture wanted to purge.

"You think that's a fair trade?" He tightened his grip, his fingers digging into the metal plating behind my head. "I've spent a century in a black box.