Chapter 8 · Sparkbound - Chapter 8: The Bond Takes Its Cut

"Don't touch him unless you want his rot in your veins." Nix grabbed Wren's wrist before she could reach Draven.

Draven hit the factory floor on one knee. His palm slapped the metal hard enough to dent it. Black lines crawled from beneath his collar, spreading up his neck in thin, moving cracks.

Wren twisted against Nix's grip. "Let go."

"He'll kill you."

"He's already dying."

"Good," Draven rasped. He pressed his other hand over his ribs. "One less problem."

His voice broke on the last word.

Wren shoved Nix away and dropped beside him. The abandoned factory groaned around them, old pipes ticking overhead, broken spark cages hanging from chains. Three children crouched behind a fallen machine, watching with wide eyes.

Draven's fingers clamped around Wren's boot before she could get closer.

"Stay back," he said.

"You don't get to give orders anymore."

"I just betrayed the Combine, crushed my badge, shot six hunters, and dragged three children through a collapsing elevator shaft. I can still give orders."

"Not while you're bleeding on the floor."

"It's not blood."

Wren looked down.

Dark fluid seeped between his fingers.