Chapter 44 · Symbiotic Glitch

"Get your hand off me, Kael." My fingers locked around his wrist, but the tremor running through my arm made the threat useless.

He didn't pull away. He shoved me back against the sealed lab door instead, one hand braced beside my head and the other clamped over the black lines crawling beneath my skin.

"You're shaking."

"I'm deciding where to break you."

"Then decide faster. Your code is eating through the inhibitor."

A sharp pulse tore from my wrist to my shoulder. My knees buckled. Kael caught me before I hit the floor, dragging me against his chest.

His coat scraped my cheek. Heat pressed through the fabric. His heartbeat hit my ear, steady and annoyingly calm.

Mine was trying to punch its way out.

"Let go," I snapped.

"No."

"That wasn't a request."

"Good. Because I wasn't asking."

I drove my elbow toward his ribs. He turned, took the hit, and tightened his grip around my waist.