Page 36 of GlitchBorn Heart

He should disgust me on sight, a handsome devil wrapped in power and privilege. Yet my chest tightens, because nothing about him feels as simple as the role he’s in.

Another thought coils in my gut, sharp like cut glass: He built it. All this technology and automation, it’s all his evil creation.

I’m so fucked.

I stand frozen, drenched in the glow of his image while the crowd around me keeps moving, oblivious. My lips part but no sound comes out. I should feel rage. Instead, I feel gravity. A dangerous tether pulling me closer to him.

His darkness calls to something in me I can’t name. Every line of his body radiates control, a dangerous man hidden behind a calm face and a tailored suit, and stars help me, I want to fall into it. The thought makes me dizzy, heat climbing under my skin.

I press my palms hard against the railing in front of me, forcing myself to breathe as I realize this can go no further.

Because now I know this...

He’s the one that hunts anomalies. He’s the secret lab, the boss of Ember, the man feared by U21s and the rebellion. Enemy number one, besides VikkCorp, of course.

When he comes for me, and he will, it won’t be with tenderness. What will happen when he realizes what I am, what I can do? When the lust fades away, will only hate be left? Will I be the destroyer of his entire world? Or will he literally destroy me?

The feed continues. Kael’s face is severe, his voice carrying through TheSquare, calm but commanding. He’s discussing cybernetics and robots; more corporate presence we don’t need in our lives. The crowd hangs on his carefully chosen words.

I can’t breathe. Why does he do this to me?

“Lyra?”

I flinch. Ash walks up beside me, smothering my personal space, smelling faintly of smoke, leather, and musk, his jacket dripping rain. His grin is lazy, but his eyes flick up to the screen, then down to me, bright and knowing.

“Well, well,” he purrs, folding his arms, “didn’t peg you for the type to fall for a corporate poster boy.”

My jaw tightens. “I’m not. I had no idea.”

Ash tilts his head, smirking like he’s caught me red-handed. “Your pulse says otherwise. I can feel it.” His face tilts closer to mine. “Everywhere.” His eyes slide downward.

I shift from one foot to the other, as heat flushes up my neck. I tear my gaze away from the screen, but Kael’s image lingers behind my eyes. His obsidian eyes, that pull, the way I felt meeting him at STATIK...ugh, my dream.

“I’m just...curious,” I say softly. “You know that night we all met at your show? I just felt like I already knew him from somewhere. Deja Vu maybe?”

Ash whistles low. “Know him, huh? From where? The way you’re staring, you’d think you’ve seen him naked...or would like to.”

Yes, please. My stomach flips as I run through scenarios in my head where we kiss, my tongue tracing those tattoos down...

No, no, Lyra, stop it now! My DataLINK pings and begins to blur with pink hearts melting downward.

“Shut up.” I shove his shoulder like a schoolgirl.

He leans closer, his voice brushing my ear like warm smoke. “I’d know if you were dreaming about me, Lyra. But him? He’s in your head. I can feel it pulsing through you.”

I snap my gaze to him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His smirk fades just enough to show me he does know. He sees it, feels it, senses it. Damn his magic. “He’s like a brother to me. Our souls and trauma have bonded us since childhood.” He remains close, his voice dropping lower until it’s meant only for me. “I know him better than anyone. I know the weight he carries, and I know when two souls are circling in the same gravity, whether they want to or not.”

The crowd shifts around us, unconcerned, while the feed drones on about VikkCorp progress reports but nothing about the two giant anomalies shining bright last night. All I can hear is the thundering of my own heartbeat, split between the beautiful man beside me with light in his veins and the beautiful man on the screen with shadows in his eyes.

And I hate that deep down, I already know which one I’d burn for.

14

TogetherForever

Playlist: On The Run - Timecop1983