Chapter 21 · Retaking the River Core

Chapter 21: Retaking the River Core

"Let go of me." My voice comes out rougher than I mean it to, because his hands are still locked around my waist and his eyes haven't stopped burning gold.

"Not until I know you're not going to drop." Kane's voice is wrecked, half-shift still thick in it, like his throat hasn't decided which shape it wants. His grip doesn't loosen. If anything it tightens, thumbs pressing into the dip of my hip like he's checking I'm real, checking I didn't go anywhere while he was gone.

"I'm not dropping. Hands off, Voss."

He lets go so fast I almost stumble, and that's its own kind of answer — he wanted the excuse to touch me, not the actual grip.

The tunnel around us still stinks of ozone and whatever came out of him two minutes ago, something hot and metallic that hasn't finished leaving his skin. My knees remember hitting concrete. My neck remembers his teeth that didn't break skin, the exact pressure of them, a promise he didn't finish. None of that matters right now, because the comm clipped to his collar is screaming.

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