Chapter 11 · The Thing in His Heart

"Pick one," Cael said. "Your brother or me. You don't have time for both."

Tessa slammed him into the clinic wall before he could slide to the floor.

His shoulder hit metal. His knees still buckled.

"Shut up," she snapped. "You're not making this my choice."

"It already is."

His hand closed around her wrist. His palm burned against her skin. Too hot. His pulse jumped beneath her fingers, fast and uneven.

Behind them, the clinic doors shook under another hit.

Milo was on the other side.

Her little brother had been unconscious for three days, strapped to a stolen stabilizer while Tessa and Niko hunted down the ledger written in their mother's name. Now the machine screamed in short, ugly bursts.

Red light flashed across Milo's bed.

Cael dropped to one knee.

Black lines had spread from his throat to his jaw. Blue cracks of pulsecraft burned beneath his skin. Every time the shield took a hit, the cracks flared brighter.

Tessa grabbed his coat and hauled him upright. "Stay up."

"I am up."

"You're kneeling."

"Still better than dead."

Another impact slammed through the room. Dust shook loose from the ceiling.