Chapter 6 · The Glitch in the Flesh

"Stop fighting me, Kael. You’re just making the friction hotter."

Nyx’s voice didn't come from the air. It vibrated inside my skull, a low, humming frequency that felt like a finger tracing the inside of my brain. I slammed my shoulder against the cracked mirror of the safehouse bathroom, my reflection flickering like a bad holo-feed.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Head," I spat, clutching the sink. My knuckles were white, and my skin was humming with a static I couldn't shake.

In the mirror, my own eyes shifted. For a split second, the iris bled from brown to a piercing, neon violet. My reflection didn't mimic me. It leaned forward, a slow, predatory smirk spreading across my own lips. Nyx was using my face to mock me.

"Your head?" She chuckled, the sound echoing in my inner ear. "Honey, we’re fused. Your nervous system is basically my playground now. And right now, your playground is overheating."

I lunged at the mirror, fist clenched, but my arm locked mid-air. Not because I wanted it to, but because she’d just hijacked the motor cortex of my right side.