Chapter 36 · Embers in the Neon

“Stop staring at your hands like they’re foreign objects, Kael. It’s pathetic.”

Nyx’s voice didn't come from the air; it vibrated directly against my skull, sharp and mocking. I didn't look up. I couldn't. I was too busy watching the way the rain sizzled against my skin, turning into tiny puffs of steam. My veins weren't blue anymore. They were a pulsing, iridescent violet, humming with a frequency that made my teeth ache.

“I’m not staring,” I lied, clenching my fist. The air around my knuckles distorted, like heat rising off a summer highway. “I’m wondering why I can still feel your smugness in my frontal lobe.”

“Because I’m the only thing keeping your nervous system from collapsing into a heap of charred meat,” she snapped. I felt her presence shift, a cold pressure sliding across my consciousness, pushing me toward the edge of my own mind. “Now move. We’re sitting ducks in this alley, and I can smell the corporate hounds circling back.”

I stood up slowly, my joints popping with a metallic click that sounded too loud in the silence. Every step felt heavy, like I was dragging a mountain of static behind me.