Chapter 33 · Under Kael's Red Eyes

"Nora, status!" Garcia's voice crackled through the radio still strapped to my vest.

I couldn't answer. Kael's weight pressed against me, his head on my shoulder, blood soaking through both our uniforms. The gate behind us pulsed like a heartbeat—my gate, the one that could take me home—but it was shrinking. Thirty seconds, maybe less.

"He's dying," I said. Not into the radio. Just out loud.

Kael's hand moved. Barely. His fingers closed around mine, slick with blood, and squeezed once.

"Don't," he whispered.

I looked down. His eyes were open. Not the sharp gray I knew. Red. Deep, burning red, like the runes that had tried to eat him alive inside the Source Gate.

"Don't what?" I kept pressure on the wound in his side, but I could feel his pulse fading under my palm. "Don't keep you alive? Not happening."

"Don't die for me again." His voice cracked. "You've done it enough."

The gate flared brighter. Twenty seconds.

"Nora!" Garcia again, louder. "We're reading massive energy spike on your position. You need to move now!"

I pressed my forehead against Kael's. His skin was cold. Too cold. "I'm not leaving you."

"You have to.