Chapter 8 · Sync Rate: 100%

"Don't you dare pass out on me!" Kane's hand slams into my chest and pins me flat against the vent wall. His palm is burning straight through my jacket. "Breathe. Breathe with me, now."

"I am breathing!" I choke out, but my ribs are doing this sick double-thump that isn't mine. "Get your hand off me, you psycho!"

"You think I want to touch you?" He doesn't move. His jaw is locked so tight I can see it jump. His eyes are blown wide and fixed on mine. "It's at ninety-eight. You feel that? That's not you. That's me."

The metal pipe is two feet wide and we're wedged in it like cargo. My back is against one freezing wall, his chest is an inch from mine, and his heart is hammering so hard I can feel it through his palm. No, through my own chest.

My pulse monitor on my wrist is screaming. 98% SYNC. OVERDRIVE.

"It failed," I gasp. "Oren's hack failed, it didn't cut it, it made it worse—"

"No shit it made it worse!" He bares his teeth. Sweat is cutting down his temple even though the vent is ice cold. "What did your hacker do?