“Just get me off this table.” Everything would be okay if I could touch him to make sure this was really happening. He looked solid enough, but with all the timeghosts flickering, I just wanted to make sure.

“Security will be here any second,” Darren said.

“Obviously.” Tair finally made it to the table. He set down his sword and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze before moving to the restraints. Just that little touch calmed the swirling past and future, grounding me in the present.

“Then drop the weapon and give yourself up,” Darren said. “We’ll treat you fairly.”

“Really?” Tair chuckled.

How stupid did Darren think we were? He was either losing his touch or cracking under pressure.

“Even if you get out, where would you go? You’ll be hunted—”

“Shut it.” I knew the score. It wouldn’t be easy, but we’d figure it out. No advice from Darren needed now or ever again.

As Tair found the right buttons, my bindings slipped free. I felt limp and woozy, but it didn’t matter as I pushed away the machines and reached for him. Our gazes locked and everything disappeared but Tair.

Then a weight charged me, tackling me to the table.

Darren.

Crap.

He drove his palm into my shoulder blades, slamming me down. Before Tair could react, Darren had an injection gun jammed to the base of my skull.

I stopped thrashing, but panic made my fingers twitch as a single timeghost snapped into place.

Tair lunges. Darren pushes the plunger. I scream and writhe as the chemical hits my blood—

The lines were so solid my breath came in pants. He’d really do it.

“Gun down, Orpheus,” Darren said.

Tair slowly eased his gun to the ground. “Relax.”

“You fucking relax.” The gun jabbed my neck with each word. I flinched, scrunching my face against the table. I couldn’t help. Couldn’t do anything but try not to freak out as my death solidified in front of my eyes.

“How’d you think this would end, Orpheus?” Daren’s smug certainty crept up my spine like spider legs. Damn it.

I shook, furious at myself and him and everything. Why? When we were so close. As Darren ground the weapon in into my neck, his knuckle pressed my skin.

Bare…?

The body armor. He’d taken off his glove.

About freaking time I could do something useful around here.

Focusing on his touch, I dropped every mental wall I had and let the timeghosts roar. They flooded from me to him like a tidal wave of images, sounds, scents, and sensations. Darren’s walls held for a second.

I threw more and more at him. The walls dented. Budged.

More and more. I unleashed hell in his head and I was the strong one now.

Darren couldn’t stop me. Hope gave me strength for one last push.

The wall fell.

And Darren dropped like a rock.