Chapter 18 · Traceless - Chapter 18: Coordinates in His Blood

Layla's chest wouldn't stop buzzing. Not pain exactly—more like her ribs were vibrating at the wrong frequency, something mechanical waking up under her skin. She pressed her palm flat against her sternum and felt it hum back.

"Keep moving." Evan's hand locked around her wrist, dragging her through the underbrush. Branches whipped her face. Her boots couldn't find solid ground.

"They're tracking me," she said. Her voice came out thin. "Evan, they put something in me. I can feel it—"

"I know." He didn't slow down. "That's why we're not stopping."

Behind them, sirens split the air. Two sets now, maybe three. The decoy had bought them maybe ten minutes. Cole's blood-soaked bandage in a burning car going south while they ran east with a file box that proved she'd been a lab experiment and Evan had been the other half of a bonded pair they'd tried to force into existence.

She stumbled. Evan caught her by the elbow, hauled her upright. "How close?"

"I don't know." The hum in her chest climbed to a higher pitch. It felt like her body was screaming coordinates she couldn't hear. "It's getting stronger."

Evan's jaw worked.