Chapter 35 · Don't let go

He staggered, the blade shaking in his hand. Black veins of light raced up his arm.

"Don't let go," he said.

"You told me not to touch it."

"I changed my mind."

"You always do that when you're wrong."

"Sera, hold on."

The Core pulled.

Not at the blade. At me.

My shackle burned against my throat. The metal split with a sharp pop, and a line of blue light ran from my neck to Kael's wrist. The bond tightened between us until every breath became shared. His heartbeat hit mine. My pulse answered inside his chest.

He dropped to one knee.

I grabbed his shoulder. "Stay up."

"I am up."

"You're kneeling."

"Strategic kneeling."

A guard fired through the door.

Kael moved first. He swung the energy blade, cutting the shot from the air. The impact threw him sideways. I caught him before he hit the rail, and the bond dumped another wave of fear into me.

This time I felt the memory beneath it.

A white room.

A younger Kael with blood on his sleeve.

My hand reaching for him from a table.

His voice saying, "If she wakes, kill the power."

I shoved him away.