Every minute, claustrophobia clawed harder.
I was so close to escape, yet so far.
So near to freedom, yet still at the mercy of death.
Whisper grumbled in Rook’s arms—his lips peeling over his fangs as my heartrate steadily increased.
Fuck, if this went wrong...
If I died in the next few minutes...
Rook buried her face into Whisper’s scruff as if using him as a box of tissues.
A punch of jealousy caught me completely unaware.
I wanted her to holdmeinstead.
I wanted to kiss her...just in case it was the last.
“Stay still,” Harry murmured, wrenching my attention back to him as he reached for my wrist. “We’ll do the cuffs first, then the pacemaker.”
“Fine.” Shutting everything down, I glowered at the ceiling. I ignored how my skin crawled as his fingers brushed me, tugging on the locking mechanism that I’d never been able to undo, no matter what I’d used to pry them open.
He hissed under his breath then picked up something thin and hooked from the array of torture devices beside me. With his other hand, he grabbed a small pair of forceps.
Cold metal clamped around my cuff, amplifying the sensation directly into my body.
He pressed, probed, then twisted the hook sharply into the lock.
A sharp metallic snap echoed through the room.
My entire handfloodedwith heat.
“That’s one tab released.” His voice was tight and curt. “But scar tissue’s grown over the second.” Picking up a tiny scalpel, he added, “We’re out of local anaesthetic so you’re just going to have to bear with it.”
Rook sucked in a breath.
Whisper took a step forward, fighting her hold.
“It’s fine.” I shook my head at both of them. “Don’t come over here.”
Harry made a quick incision—just enough to separate whatever had fused. I hissed at the sharp sting as he dug the hook deeper, searching for the final latch.
A second, louder click.
The cuff loosened—cradling my wrist instead of biting into it.
For the first time since I was a child, air touched skin that hadn’t seen the world in decades.
Warm Ashfall blood seeped from the tiny scalpel cut, bright red and mocking.
“This is the hard part.” Sweat gleamed on Harry’s upper lip. “I need to remove the internal shunt. It will bleed. A lot. And you need to stay absolutely still so I don’t tear the vein.”
Not waiting for me to agree, he slid his fingers over my wrist, feeling for the tube’s anchor point. “I’m going to withdraw it slowly to minimise any damage.” He gave a single nod...and then pulled.
White-hot fire exploded down my forearm as the tube slid gently, excruciatingly slowly from my vein. It came free and blood surged, dark and steady.
Rook panicked. “I-Is that normal?!”
