Chapter 25 · Steal the Starlight - Chapter 25: Lights Out

"Don't touch me." Wren's knees buckled, and I caught her before her head hit the floor.

Her fingers hooked into my jacket. They were freezing. Not cold from the busted apartment window or the cheap metal floor. Freezing like her body had forgotten how to keep itself alive.

"You were about to fall into a table," I said. "So, yeah. I touched you. Sue me."

"Let go."

"No."

Her eyes snapped up. Even half-dead, Wren Starr could make a room feel like a courtroom. Gold light crawled under her skin, flashing from her throat to her wrists in broken pulses.

The link between us answered with a sharp twist under my ribs.

I bit down hard.

Wren saw it. "You're hurting."

"You're observant."

"Ellis. Let go before it transfers."

"Transfers what? Your charming personality?"

"The overload."

Another pulse hit her. Her back arched against my arm, and a burst of white-gold light blew out from her shoulder. The kitchen cabinets rattled. A glass dropped from the counter and shattered across the floor.

I tightened my grip instead of releasing her.

"Stop fighting me," I said.

"I'm not fighting you. I'm trying not to kill you."

"That's cute.