Chapter 22 · Steal the Starlight - Chapter 22: The Kill Switch

"Don't touch me."

Wren's hand stopped inches from my wrist.

The black shard under my skin burned hard enough to make my fingers shake. Every screen in the control room still flashed the same red numbers from the broken core's countdown.

00:17:42.

Cade stood between me and the exit, one hand resting on the gun at his hip. Wren stood behind him, pale, breathing too fast, her silver hero jacket torn at the shoulder.

Nobody looked like they knew what to do with me.

Good. At least we agreed on something.

"Ellis," Wren said quietly, "your link is spiking. Let me stabilize it."

"You had your chance to stabilize me."

Her jaw tightened. "I was trying to keep you alive."

"By putting cameras in our apartment?"

The control room went still.

Cade's fingers curled around the grip of his gun. Wren didn't move, but the tiny pulse in her throat jumped.

There it was.

The lie had finally hit something it couldn't dodge.

I laughed once. It came out rough. "You didn't know I could see the surveillance feed, did you?"

"I knew the company was watching us."

"That wasn't my question."

"Ellis—