Chapter 24 · Black Signal

"Kael, get your hand off the console." Nyx drove her elbow into his ribs and slammed him against the navigation rail.

The impact rattled his teeth. His palm stayed locked around the emergency override anyway.

"You’re welcome," he said.

"For what? Breaking my arm or making the purge countdown worse?"

"Pick one."

Her face was inches from his. Her silver hair had come loose from its clip, strands sticking to the side of her cheek. The thin synthetic skin over her throat pulsed with a pale blue light, too fast and too bright.

That light was tied to him.

Every time his heart kicked, the power in her body steadied. Every time she pushed too far, something sharp tugged beneath his ribs, like an invisible wire had hooked into his pulse.

Right now, the wire was burning.

Nyx twisted his wrist toward the console. "Let go."

"If I let go, the station finishes opening the purge channel."

"If you keep holding it, the station cuts my access."

"Then stop trying to shut me out."

Her eyes narrowed. "You’re not in charge of me."

"I’m the reason you’re still standing.