I respected Quanta for what she’d been through and what she’d done. Even though I was only scraping the surface of who she was, I knew she’d been on the Ravens’ side for years, and she’d suffered more than anyone for the cause of protecting Eva’s interests.

That was the kicker. If Eva hadn’t forced us together?

For Quanta, I might’ve volunteered.

But Eva hadn’t cared about my consent. It went against everything she claimed to believe, and when I saw her next—

For now, I had to swallow my anger. The cause was bigger than just me.

But this changed everything. I had to get Quanta out now. With our pairing in play, it was only a matter of time before Doctor Nagi connected the dots.

I froze.

My blood work and genomic data were all on file. I’d never caught the abnormalities before, but I hadn’t been looking for them. Doctor Nagi would. How could he not when her waves spiked every time we touched?

He’d already had days while I walked around oblivious.

Naïve. So naïve.

How much time did we have left before we were caught?

The sound of wheels on tile snapped my head up. Three medics speed-walked toward us, pushing a rolling stretcher.

My instincts said to keep Quanta close, but I couldn’t do anything that would hint my interest was more than scientific—and I had to admit we’d passed that. Gritting my teeth, I let go of her hand.

Her face instantly twisted, but I forced myself to stand up straight, step back, and give the med team room to work.

They lifted her and quickly strapped her down when she started writhing and balling her fists. A muscle ticked in her cheek, contorting her eye. It took everything I had not to reach out to her.

Don’t step in. Act rational.

“Where are you taking her?” I followed as they rolled into motion, and the guards’ footsteps echoed behind us.

“Holo room,” the head medic said. “Waldman’s orders.”

“In this condition?” My voice didn’t sound rational, but it was too late to take back the words.

“She’s stable enough. I’ll administer a sedative if she deteriorates.”

I bit down to keep from retorting. Some med team.

Then again, Quanta wasn’t really a patient—just a source of information. Dread gripped me as we rolled closer to the holo room. When they drugged her, she only projected blurred images and nonsense. They meant nothing unless Quanta was lucid enough to decode them.

Only this time, she hadn’t been drugged. Our pairing had caused the reaction—and it was probably going to keep changing her powers.

The holo room could get us both killed.