Chapter 25 · Kane Remembers the Gun

Kane's hand went to his holster before he even knew why.

Elara saw it. Her breath caught, and she took half a step back, palms up like she was calming a spooked animal. "Kane. Listen to me."

"I am listening." His voice came out flat. Wrong. He didn't pull the gun, but his fingers stayed on the grip. "I've been listening this whole time. You told me we were on the same side."

"We are—"

"Then why do I keep seeing your face right before I die?"

The words hit the air like a gunshot. Nora flinched. Tobias, still slumped against the isolation pod, looked up with hollow eyes that said he'd already watched this part play out before.

Elara's jaw tightened. "Those weren't real. Silas edited them. He's trying to—"

"Stop." Kane's head throbbed. No, not a throb. A crack. Something inside his skull splitting open, and suddenly the memories weren't fragments anymore. They were whole. Solid. Twelve different versions of the same last minute, and in every single one, Elara Vale was holding something sharp, or hot, or humming with current, and his blood was on her hands.

He staggered.