Chapter 11 · The Execution Warrant

"Get your hands off me!" Lorne shrieked.

Cade didn't let go. He slammed her back against the cold stone of the bell tower wall, fingers digging into her shoulders. He wasn't looking at her face. His eyes were locked on her chest, where the skin was rippling like water beneath the fabric.

"Shut up and breathe," Cade hissed. "Panic and you're just inviting it in deeper. Look at me, Lorne. Look at me!"

Lorne tried to gasp, but her lungs felt like they were filled with wet cement. Then came the voice. A wet, scratching thing vibrating inside her ribs.

*Found you.*

"What is that?" she choked out, clutching his forearms. "Cade, something is... inside me."

"I know," he snapped. He pressed his palm flat against her chest, right over the phantom lock. He wasn't being gentle. He was trying to hold her together.

Through the thin shirt, his hand was searing. A violent contrast to the unnatural chill leaking from her own skin. The world tilted. The scent of ozone and old blood hit her, and suddenly the distance between them vanished.