Chapter 24 · Sparkbound - Chapter 24: Heart of the Bond

"Take your hand off the core, Wren, or I break it." Draven's fingers locked around my wrist before I could touch the black metal.

The machine answered him with a deep, ugly thump.

My pulse jumped. The core flashed red.

"You can try," I said. "But if you pull me back, it dies."

His grip tightened. Heat from his palm pressed through my sleeve, steady and brutal. His other hand held the knife at my throat, not cutting, just close enough to make the point.

Behind us, the chamber shook. Dust spilled from the ceiling. Somewhere above, the city alarm screamed in three long bursts.

Draven leaned in until his breath brushed my cheek. "You think I won't choose the city?"

"I think you'll choose yourself first."

His eyes went flat. "Careful."

"The rot is already in your chest. The core can burn it out, but it needs a living spark-bond to start. Yours is dying. Mine isn't." I turned my wrist inside his hold and shoved my palm toward the machine. "That makes me useful. It doesn't make me yours."

The knife shifted against my skin.

"You have no idea what this thing needs."

"Then tell me.