Chapter 9 · Deadly Invitation

"Stop fighting me, Kael. You're shaking so hard I can barely aim," Nyx’s voice hissed inside my skull, vibrating against my optic nerve like a live wire.

I slammed my fist against the rusted metal siding of the alleyway, the impact sending a jolt of pain up my arm. "Get out of my head. Just for five minutes, get the hell out!"

"I can't. We're fused, remember?" Her tone was smug, but there was a jagged edge to it. "And right now, your heart rate is hitting 140. If you don't calm down, the fusion is going to spike, and we'll both fry from the inside out."

I leaned my head back against the cold wall, breathing in the metallic tang of smog and old ozone. The encrypted ping from Victor was still burning a hole in my mind—*I know you're alive.* The bastard didn't just want me dead; he wanted me to know he was watching.

"He's playing with us," I spat, wiping a smear of grime from my cheek. "He knows exactly where I am."

"Then stop acting like a wounded animal and start acting like a hunter," Nyx countered.