Chapter 26 · The Blood-Bond Betrayal

"Stop fighting me, Kael. You're literally tearing yourself apart," Nyx’s voice didn't come from the air—it vibrated inside my skull, sharp and panicked.

I slammed my fist against the reinforced alloy wall of the safehouse, the metal denting under a strength that wasn't mine. My veins were glowing a violent, neon violet, pulsing in time with a heartbeat that felt like a sledgehammer hitting my ribs.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Head," I spat, each word tasting like copper.

"I can't! We're fused, you idiot!" Nyx screamed back. Suddenly, my right arm jerked. I didn't move it. She did. My hand reached up and gripped my own throat, squeezing just enough to make me gasp. "Listen to me. The evolution isn't a gift. It's a zero-sum game. There isn't enough biological bandwidth for both of us to hit the next tier."

I clawed at my own wrist, trying to pry her grip off. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means," she whispered, her tone shifting from panic to something colder, "that for one of us to evolve, the other has to fade. To become a ghost in the machine. A passenger with no steering wheel.