Chapter 9 · Blood in the Blackout

"Get your hands off me!" I snapped, though it came out as more of a wheeze.

Kael didn't listen. He slammed me against the cold metal wall of the corridor, his grip on my wrist tight enough to bruise. The lights above us flickered once, twice, and then died completely, plunging the hallway into a suffocating, ink-black void.

"Shut up and stay close," Kael hissed. His voice was right against my ear, his breath hot and smelling of mint and something sharp, like ozone. "You're a beacon for every killer in this building right now. You want to be a corpse by midnight?"

I tried to twist away, my shoulder scraping the wall. "I can handle myself. I don't need a golden boy playing bodyguard."

"Handle yourself?" He laughed, a low, dangerous sound that vibrated through my chest. He stepped closer, erasing every inch of space between us. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, the hard line of his chest pressing against my shoulder. "You can barely stand. Your core is a joke right now, Nova. You're not a tyrant anymore. You're a liability."

I glared at him in the dark, my heart hammering against my ribs.