Chapter 21 · Three Days to Bleed

The spikes were still out.

Chen Feng stared at his forearms. Six copper points jutted from the muscle, dark red like old pennies left in blood. They weren't retracting. He could feel them under his skin, roots digging into bone. The copper wanted to stay.

Su Mian was on the floor. Her hand pressed against her throat. Blood leaked between her fingers, not spurting, just seeping. The cut wasn't deep. Scar Face had only wanted to prove a point.

"Chen Feng." Her voice came out thin. "Your arms."

He tried to pull the spikes back in. Nothing. They just sat there, humming. He could feel the copper singing in his marrow, happy it finally got out.

"I don't know how."

She pushed herself up against the furnace. The blood on her neck was already slowing. She looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time. Not scared. Worse. Sad.

"They're not going back in, are they."

It wasn't a question.

Chen shook his head. His arms felt wrong. Too heavy. The spikes caught the furnace light and threw red shadows on the wall. He looked like something that crawled out of the scrap heap.