Chapter 20 · Sparkbound - Chapter 20: Light the Heart

"Don't touch the machine." Draven caught Wren's wrist before her fingers reached the black metal ring.

The tether between their cuffs snapped tight. Heat raced from his palm into her skin, and the old scars around his wrist lit up like thin red wire.

Wren looked down at his hand, then up at his face. "You dragged me through half a collapsing city to get here. Now you're worried about my fingers?"

"I'm worried about what happens when the machine recognizes you."

"It already recognized me. That's why it opened."

The chamber shook hard enough to throw dust from the ceiling. Behind them, something heavy slammed into the sealed doors. Once. Twice. The third hit bent the metal inward.

Draven's grip tightened. "The Combine is inside the tower. If they reach us before we power the core, they take you alive."

"And if I power it?"

His eyes dropped to the tether running from his cuff to hers. The dark band had grown brighter since they entered the chamber. It pulsed with both their heartbeats, one beat chasing the other.

"Then the machine may burn through the bond," he said.

Wren pulled against him.