Page 161 of GlitchBorn Heart

I try to pull it back, to breathe, to dampen it, but the harder I fight, the brighter it shines. The glow in my veins crawls up my spine, blooming along my tattoo in visible threads of amber light.

I look at him mesmerized. “You’re not supposed to be able to do that.” My breath is a pant. “How did you do that?”

“Maybe I’m your conduit.”

The screens stutter, lines of code twisting into shapes that almost look like us, two figures made of light, pulsing together in perfect sync.

“You’re forcing me to merge my powers with yours and then you’re channeling it to amplify your own.” My throat goes dry. “That’s not fair. How?”

“I read stuff.” He cuts me off softly. “Magic doesn’t lie. Yours wants to warp itself around mine. You can’t deny that.” The lights flicker, heat crawling through the room as my magic and his continue to fuse.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The lights flash crimson. The wall screens fracture into a thousand mirrored shards. Alarms are triggering all over the lab. Kael curses under his breath, and spins toward the console.

“What did you do?” I gasp.

“Nothing.” He growls. “That’s the problem. Lyra, I’m an anomaly now. Just like you. I’m going to have to figure out how to hide it when I’m in the lab.”

A distorted voice floods the room. LINK’s voice, metallic, warped, and almost human.

ANOMALY DETECTED

CORRUPTION SOURCE: UNKNOWN

Kael moves back toward me, like he’s approaching a ball of fire. “Breathe,” he orders softly. “Don’t fight it. Help me guide it.”

His hand lifts, hovering an inch from my chest before settling lightly against the glow that’s spreading beneath my skin. The contact sends a shock through both of us. The light flares bright gold, then ripples into orange, dancing between his fingers.

“That’s it, you’re not burning hot, and neither am I. You’re balancing. Feel me. Sync with me like we did in DreamNet.”

I don’t mean to obey; my body just does. My pulse syncs to his; the wild edges of my magic begin to smooth under his touch, reshaping around his steady rhythm.

The screens behind us are slower, steadier. Code untangles, light flows like ocean waves. Kael’s eyes lift to meet mine, and for a moment, I forget how to exist. He’s devastating.

“You’re doing it. You’re holding the current.” He winks at me. “Good girl, Taiyō.”

Oh my stars. Only he can use my confessions against me as a weapon. A tiny part of me still melts inside, turned on by his praise.

My light wraps around his hand, up his arm, binding us together in a spiral of gold and orange. The glow reaches his throat, his jaw, his eyes. “Kael...” I gasp, feeling it crest inside me. “You’re amplifying my emotions.” A rush of pleasure flows through me. I release the tiniest moan.

“I know.” His thumb brushes my collarbone, slow and grounding. “But if you lose control here, you’ll crash the system. Focus on me. Eyes right here.”

The light dims, then steadies, our breathing becoming one harmonious pattern. His hand falls away, but I’m physically unable to break his eye contact.

Kael studies me, and the architect takes over. “This is exactly what you’ll have to do during extraction.”

“Wha-what?” I snap out of whatever trance it felt like he had me in.

Asshole! He just taught me what I need to do to save myself, and he almost made me come while doing it.

“Next time,” he says quietly, “we’ll have to find a better way to manage that.”

I laugh, shaky and breathless. “You mean a way that doesn’t set off every alarm in the whole building?”

He grins. “Exactly.”

Then softer, almost tender, he says, “You’re the most dangerous thing I’ve ever built.” His eyes glint. “You know, Little Taiyō, if you keep hacking up my grid like that every time you’re horny, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”