Chapter 31 · The Key Won’t Kneel

"Take your hand off the console, Sera."

Kael caught her wrist before her fingers reached the black glass.

The Core answered anyway.

A deep pulse slammed through the chamber. The floor jumped under their boots, and every red strip of light along the walls flashed white. Kael’s grip tightened. His other hand locked around the back of her neck, keeping her from pitching forward as the machine screamed through the bond between them.

"Let go," Sera snapped.

"Not while it’s inside your head."

"It’s been inside my head since I was made. You’re a little late to worry."

His jaw flexed. Heat bled from his palm into her skin, sharp and steady. The bond carried the contact farther than it should have. She felt his pulse under her fingers. Felt the hard spike of pain behind his ribs.

Good.

He deserved a fraction of what she carried.

Another pulse hit.

Kael dropped to one knee.

Sera tore free and caught herself against the console. The black surface rippled under her hand, turning soft as liquid. Symbols crawled across it in a pattern she almost recognized.

Almost.

Then the words broke apart.

ACCESS FAILURE.

MEMORY CORE UNSTABLE.

SELECT: PURGE OR AWAKEN.