Chapter 19 · Old Xu's Dirty Little Trick

Old Xu dragged Chen into the boiler room before the blood on the cage floor even dried.

"Sit." Old Xu kicked a metal stool toward him.

Chen's ribs still ached where the guy's elbow had cracked them an hour ago. Except they didn't crack anymore. The bone felt solid. Thicker than before. He pressed his thumb against the spot and felt nothing but smooth hardness under the skin.

"You're not listening." Old Xu snapped his fingers in Chen's face. "I said sit."

Chen sat. The stool was cold through his shorts. Sweat had dried stiff on his back and his knuckles were still tacky with someone else's blood. The boiler room smelled like rust and old heating oil. One bare bulb swung from a wire overhead.

Old Xu pulled a folding chair over and sat close enough that their knees almost touched. His eyes were bloodshot. Chen could smell cigarettes and cheap baijiu on him.

"You felt it tonight," Old Xu said. "The copper. It didn't just heal you. It moved."

Chen didn't answer. His hands were shaking. Not from fear. From something else. Something that wanted out.

"I'm going to teach you how to control it.