Chapter 15 · Steal the Starlight - Chapter 15: Shared Agony

"Get your hands off me!" Wren’s voice cracked, a jagged sound that didn't fit the Golden Girl image. She slammed her back against the corridor wall, her breath coming in short, panicked hitches.

I didn't listen. I stepped into her space, my boots clicking hard on the tile. "Shut up and let me look, Wren. You're shaking like a leaf."

"I'm fine," she spat, though her eyes were blown wide, pupils swallowing the iris. She tried to push me away, but her palms were slick with sweat, and she lacked any real leverage. I grabbed her wrists, pinning them against the wall beside her head. The power link between us was screaming, a high-pitched psychic frequency that felt like a needle threading through my skull.

"You're not fine. You're crashing," I said, my voice low and dangerous. I could feel it—the jagged, erratic pulse of her magic. It wasn't flowing; it was detonating inside her, small bursts of light leaking from her skin like cracked porcelain. "If you don't let me stabilize the link, you're going to blow a fuse and take this whole floor with you."

"I can handle it," she hissed, struggling against my grip.