Chapter 30 · The Hunger Within

"Get your hands off me, Kane!"

Lyra shoved at his chest, but it was like trying to push a mountain. Kane didn't budge. He had her pinned against the rusted bulkhead of the scrap-ship, his fingers digging into the cold metal on either side of her head. He wasn't looking at her—not really. His eyes were blown out, the pupils swallowing the iris, humming with a faint, jagged violet light.

"You're shaking," he rasped. His voice sounded like grinding stones.

"I'm shaking because you look like you're about to eat the entire room!" Lyra snapped, though her breath hitched. He was too close. She could feel the heat radiating off him in waves, a dry, electric warmth that made the fine hairs on her arms stand up.

Kane leaned in, his nose brushing against hers. He inhaled sharply, a slow, predatory draw of air. "I can hear it. The energy in the walls. The pulse in your neck. It's... loud."

"It's called a heartbeat, you freak," she whispered, but she didn't pull away. She couldn't. The power coming off him was terrifying, but it was also magnetic.