Chapter 10 · Heart Stop

"Don't you dare pass out on me, Kane. Look at me!" Mara slammed her palm against his chest, trying to jar his heart back into a rhythm that didn't feel like a dying bird.

Kane didn't answer. He was slumped against the damp concrete of the maintenance tunnel, his breathing coming in jagged, wet rattles. His skin, usually a pale, arrogant porcelain, was now the color of wet ash.

"I'm... fine," he managed to choke out. The lie was pathetic. He coughed, and a thin spray of crimson hit the floor between them.

"You're a liar and a terrible patient," Mara snapped, though her hands were shaking. She gripped the collar of his tactical jacket and hauled him closer, her shoulder pressing into his. The proximity was suffocating. She could smell the ozone of the city's smog and the sharp, metallic scent of blood.

Above them, the muffled thud of combat boots echoed through the ventilation shafts. The mercenaries weren't just hunting them anymore; they were flushing them out like rats.

"Get up," she hissed, her voice a low vibration against his ear. "If we stay here, we're just two corpses in a very expensive pipe."

Kane gripped her wrist.