Chapter 7 · The Second Heartbeat

"Get your hand off me, Nico!"

Mara shoved the mechanic back. Her boot skidded on the greasy workshop floor, sending a spray of oil across her boots.

Her head was screaming. The memory reset had felt like a hot needle driven through her temples, leaving a jagged hole where her identity used to be. *Traitor.* The word was still burned into her retinas, flashing red against the black void of the system archive.

"I'm just trying to stabilize the link!" Nico yelled. He was shaking, goggles hanging crookedly off his forehead. "The Crown's signal is still pinging your brand. If we don't mask it now, they'll track us to this basement in five minutes!"

Mara ignored him. She turned on Cael.

He was leaning against a stack of rusted engine parts, watching her with an expression that looked dangerously like pity. That was the one thing she couldn't stand.

"You knew," she spat, stepping into his space. She grabbed the collar of his coat, bunching the fabric in her fist. "You knew I was on that list. You knew the Crown called me a traitor, and you let me hunt you like a dog for three days.