Chapter 9 · Blood Debt

"Get your hands off me before I rip them off," Eve hissed, though her voice lacked its usual bite. She was pinned against the cold alloy wall of the med-pod, her chest heaving.

I didn't move. I kept my palm pressed flat against the small of her back, feeling the frantic, erratic thrum of her heart through the thin fabric of her suit. The sensory sync was still active, a shimmering, invisible wire connecting my nervous system to hers. Every shudder of her breath felt like it was happening in my own lungs.

"You're shaking," I whispered, leaning in until my lips were inches from her ear. "For someone who owns half the city, you're acting pretty terrified right now."

"I'm not terrified. I'm disgusted," she snapped, but she didn't push me away. Her eyes, usually like frozen sapphires, were wide and clouded with a desperate, hungry kind of panic. "The signature... the Forbidden Key... it's screaming. If the Syndicate hounds find us because of your glitchy blood, I'll make sure you die slowly.