Chapter 29 · Reid, don't go near that

Her voice changed.

Not fear. Something sharper.

I stepped toward it.

Mira caught the back of my jacket. "Reid, don't go near that."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one keeping you alive."

The tank pulsed again.

The Current brushed across my skin, faint but familiar. It wasn't coming from the cables. It was coming from inside the glass.

A small hand struck the other side.

I saw Leo's face through the blue fluid and turned cold.

"Leo!"

Mira grabbed my arm. "Wait!"

I tore free and reached the tank. Leo floated inside, strapped against a metal frame, his dark hair drifting around his face. A breathing mask covered his mouth. Thin lines ran from his wrists into the support rig.

His eyes were closed.

For half a heartbeat, I couldn't hear the door, the alarms, or Mira shouting behind me.

Then rage hit.

Not the clean kind. Not the controlled heat I could aim through a blade. This was a fire with teeth.

I slammed both hands against the glass.

The tank cracked.

Mira seized my shoulder and spun me around. "Don't break it!"

"They put him in there."

"I know.