Chapter 9 · Voidbound - Chapter 9: The Second Heart

"Stop moving." Mira's hand locked around my wrist before I could hit the wall again.

I twisted, but she didn't let go. Her fingers pressed against my pulse, counting something I didn't want her to count.

"Let go."

"Your heart's doing twice the work it should." She pulled me closer, eyes narrowing. "What did that file mean? Second egg?"

I yanked free and stumbled back. The hunters' voices were getting louder upstairs, boots on metal grating. We had maybe two minutes before they kicked through the next blast door.

"Doesn't matter," I said. "We need to move."

"It matters when you're about to collapse." She stepped forward, cutting off my path to the side corridor. "Talk."

The thing in my chest moved. Not like a heartbeat. Like something coiled, stretching, testing the space between my ribs. I pressed my palm flat against my sternum, trying to hold it still.

"I'm fine."

"You're lying." Mira's hand went to her sidearm, not drawing, just resting there. "If you bonded a second creature—"

"I didn't bond anything." The words came out too fast. "The egg's dead. We found it already cracked."

She watched me for three seconds.