Page 85 of GlitchBorn Heart

I could have brought everything Kael has worked for down in one moment of hysteria. I could get both of us erased if I don’t get a hold of myself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“To run?” Kael leans against the doorframe, arms crossed again, the edge of his authority showing brightly in his body language. “You told me we would work together, allies, no sabotage, remember?” His face is blank, matter of fact, the cold stone that is the aura of Dr. Ryudon. “You’re always going to run, Lyra. It’s what you do. It’s easier than staying and taking a chance on me.”

My anger, my desire, the plans we have to rescue Eli, to get me out of here, they all scroll through my mind like a movie. I don’t welcome his dissatisfaction with me like I thought I would. The weight of his disappointment suddenly strangles me.

No, Lyra. You shouldn’t care. He’s the enemy. He’s the villain. He hunts people. You still hate him...even though you want him.

I should log off. I should step away and stop this now. It would end both of our suffering. Just let him think of me as another lab experiment to sign off on.

But where would that leave me?

Rage wants to rise in me, but my honesty keeps me centered. I lift my chin to explain. “Running is the only reason I’ve survived this long. It’s what Eli and I have had to do to exist since our parents died.”

We let the silence hold for a bit too long. He reads me like his code, slow and analytical. The look on his face tells me he has the patience of a man who knows how to wait for what he wants because he didn’t walk away.

His long fingers run through the wet hair hanging over his eye, pushing it out of his face as he looks up for strength. “Did you not hear me before? In DreamNet? You should be running to me, Little Taiyō...not from me.” I can’t read his posture. It’s somewhere between a promise and a threat.

We remain in the silence. An impasse. His jaw is locked, his eyes studying me, but his voice comes out lower and deeper. “Vikktor knows.”

That name hangs in the air like an ultimatum. “He told me to stay away from Eli. To leave you, the anomaly, buried. And he questioned me about your body disappearing from the CryoLab.”

My breath catches. “And you handled it right?”

Kael doesn’t answer right away. He just shakes his head like he’s had enough. I see him holding back, a deep breath, a second of patience. He refuses to hurry through this. “Of course I did. But Vikktor isn’t a man you just ‘handle.’ He’s not someone to cross.”

My eyes open wide. “You think Eli is safe? Like can he survive much longer?” I reach for the holo-thread. A flicker of consciousness at the corners of my vision, and I’m standing in his living room. I rush to the doorway he’s standing in. “You saw him, Kael. He’s surging every time he reaches for me, and he’s been trying to find me. I keep picking up on flashes of him in DreamNet calling out to me.”

His eyes close lazily as he shakes his head again. “Unbelievable. And you didn’t think to tell me he’s trying to communicate with you? No of course you wouldn’t, because despite putting my life on the line for you, you still won’t let me in.”

No, that’s not it.

I won’t let you dominate me, at least not in this way.

Typical man. “If you let Vikktor scare you off, then you’re not the man you pretend to be, Dr. Ryudon.”

Kael’s head snaps, and he lunges toward me. The fury in his eyes isn’t for me entirely; it’s also for the corner I’ve forced him into. He’s in my face so fast the holo-light stutters.

“You don’t understand what you’re asking me to do...clearly.” His head tilts, the words clipped. Never raising his voice.

I smile with contempt. “No, Kael. I understand perfectly. You’re afraid. For once in your perfect, calculated life, you’re actually afraid.”

Fuck! Why did I say that out loud?

Stillness. Dead quiet.

The kind that suffocates and shatters dreams. The kind that’s thick and toxic.

Kael crosses the last few inches. So close I can almost taste the sweat on his skin. I’m going to die; he’s going to strangle me or kill me with one of those weapons on the wall. Can you kill a hologram? I don’t know. Stars, I can’t even think clearly. He’s so intimidating...and so fucking irresistible.

I can feel his breath on my lips, as his eyes narrow.

I inhale him—sweat, spice, and dark vanilla.

Just give in, Lyra.

His hand lifts, and out of instinct I flinch. He looks confused, grabs the back of my neck, and shoves our lips together. His kiss is forceful, intruding. His tongue punishes mine. I can’t believe a kiss can feel like this through the holographic light.

It feels so good to be touched after being in this cold, black cyber world.