Chapter 6 · 100 Meters or You Choke

"Stop twitching, or I’ll give you a reason to bleed," Kaelen hissed, his voice like sliding glass. He didn't just push Jax; he slammed him face-first into the grime of the holding cell floor.

Jax didn't even have the breath to curse. The void-cuffs were eating his magic, but the real torture was the gear. That living piece of brass in his chest was grinding, syncing with a heartbeat that wasn't his. Every time Elise gasped, Jax felt a spike of lightning shoot through his ribs.

"Get off him!" Elise’s voice was ragged, stripped of its usual command. She was pinned against the opposite wall, her wrists locked in matching shimmering restraints.

Kaelen laughed, a short, sharp sound. He leaned down, his polished boot pressing into the small of Jax’s back. "Look at you. A street rat and a disgraced Huntress, vibrating in sync like a pair of cheap tuning forks. What is this? Some kind of forbidden bond? A little street-magic romance?"

"It’s not... a romance," Jax wheezed, spitting a glob of blood onto the floor. "It’s a... nightmare."

"A nightmare I’m going to enjoy dissecting," Kaelen replied. He stepped back, eyes flickering with a sadistic curiosity.