Chapter 33 · Voidbound - Chapter 33: Back to the Hollow

"Get up." Mira's hand locked around my wrist, hauling me off the floor before my knees stopped shaking.

I couldn't. The broadcast had torn through me like I'd shoved my hand into a live wire, and the feedback loop—every screen in the city lighting up with purge orders and gene-splice logs—had nearly stopped my heart. The Voidling was quiet now. Too quiet. I could feel it curled tight in my chest, its pulse faint and slow, like it was bleeding out from the inside.

"Kael." Mira's voice snapped close to my ear. "We have maybe two minutes before this whole tower locks down. Move."

"Can't," I said. Blood was running warm from my nose, copper taste filling my mouth. "The thing inside me—"

"I know." She shoved her pistol into my hand, grip still warm from her palm. "If I turn, you pull the trigger. You understand me?"

I stared at the gun. "What?"

"The purge files." She was already moving, dragging me toward the access hatch that led down into the substructure. "They weren't just logs. There were activation codes embedded in the last transmission.