Chapter 18 · Sparkbound - Chapter 18: The Vessel Wakes

"Get your hand off that lever, Wren."

Draven caught her wrist before her fingers closed around the metal handle. His grip locked hard enough to stop her, but not hard enough to crush. Not yet.

The machine behind them gave a deep, ugly pulse.

The whole chamber jumped.

Wren's boots slid across the black metal floor. Draven yanked her against his chest, one arm cutting across her ribs while his other hand kept hold of her wrist.

"Let go," she snapped.

"You pull that lever, it drains you dry."

"And if I don't?"

The machine answered for him.

A ring of copper teeth snapped open around the crystal core. Blue-white light shot through the chamber and struck the tether between their wrists. Wren cried out. Her knees buckled.

Draven hauled her upright. His breath hit the side of her face, hot and rough.

"You felt that," he said.

"I felt you dragging me around like luggage. Move."

"No."

"That wasn't a request."

"Good. Then you heard me."

She twisted against him. His coat scraped across her shoulder. The tether pulled tight between their cuffs, the thin strip of dark metal vibrating like it wanted to cut through both their bones.