Chapter 11 · Black Market Hail Mary

"Don't touch him unless you want his heart to stop."

Milo froze with one hand on Cael's shoulder.

Cael was on his knees beside the workbench, one palm pressed against the metal floor. His other hand clutched the front of my jacket. His grip had started hard. Now his fingers kept slipping.

"That isn't how medical scans work," Milo said.

"It's how the bond works." I shoved Milo's wrist away. "Back up."

He backed up fast.

Good. At least one of us still listened when I sounded dangerous.

Cael's head dipped. His breath scraped out of him. I felt it in my own chest a second later, a thin, broken pull that made my ribs lock.

I grabbed his face and forced him to look at me.

His skin was cold. Not normal cold. Freezer-cold.

"Cael. Stay with me."

His gray eyes focused for half a second. Then the pupils stuttered, shrinking and widening like his system couldn't decide what he was looking at.

"You keep saying that," he muttered.

"Because you keep trying to die."

"Not trying."

"Then try harder."

Milo circled the workbench, scanning the black lines crawling beneath Cael's skin.