Chapter 19 · Feedback Loop

"Get out of my head!" I slammed both palms against Kane's chest, but the shock running through the neural link threw me back harder than he did.

My shoulder hit the metal floor. Sparks jumped across the cables wrapped around my wrists. Somewhere above us, the foundry alarms screamed in broken bursts.

Kane dropped to one knee.

His left arm hung uselessly at his side. The right one still held his pistol, though the barrel shook toward the ceiling instead of the door.

"You think I'm doing this on purpose?" he snapped.

"You dragged me into your memory!"

"Your core dragged both of us."

Another pulse ripped through my spine.

I bit down so hard my teeth hurt. For half a second, I wasn't on the foundry floor anymore. I was inside Kane's head, staring down the sights of a rifle while six soldiers moved through a burning corridor.

One of them laughed.

The sound came from behind me.

Kane's voice cut through it. "Vera. Look at me."

I forced my eyes open.

He was close enough that his breath brushed my cheek. His pupils had gone wide, black swallowing the gray around them.