Darren waited at the door, wearing a dark expression that told me exactly what was on the line. He slammed the keypad, opening the pressurized doors for Quanta’s stretcher. “Get her strapped in.” As the team went to work, he turned the blazing hate to me. “The hell did you do to her, Orpheus?”

“Nothing.” I kept my voice light, but my gaze betrayed me, drifting to follow the med team’s motions. If they hurt her…

“Out.” Darren grabbed my lapel, yanking me away from the doorway.

Suddenly ice cold, I glanced down at his fingers. “Let go.”

Darren scoffed, but moved his hands. “You’re off the team. Go wait in your quarters for debriefing.”

“What about her?” Off the team didn’t mean dead. But that didn’t matter. I couldn’t leave Quanta with him.

“Like I said.” Darren lifted a hand to close the door panel. “She’s not your—”

Quanta’s soul-tearing scream cut off his words.

I broke away from Darren, dashing in. I had to—

Light strobed so hard I could barely spot her in the center of the room. The medics who’d been strapping her in had fallen to their knees, covering their eyes against the flashes.

Images. Colors. Figures. The space writhed with eerily familiar shapes and landscapes, but they blinked in and out too quickly to process. The projection equipment whined at the strain.

It couldn’t be good for her.

Squinting against the feedback, I lunged to the center of the room. They’d only gotten her half strapped in. Quanta’s free arm flailed.

I grabbed her wrist and knelt beside the chair. Shhh. It’s okay. Calm down.

She responded to my mental voice. Her muscles relaxed and as she sank back into the chair, the images choking the room started to clear.

You’re okay. I pushed back her pajama sleeve to get my other hand on her wrist. Skin to skin seemed to help. Although our genetic bond was obviously the reason she was struggling. Getting close could screw with her equilibrium, but it should settle eventually. That was the point of the mod.

Tair… I heard Quanta in my head, but her voice sounded too distant. As if it came from the other side of the universe.

I’m here. Rubbing my thumb back and forth across her skin, I could tell myself this was all about comforting her—just helping another human through hell—but I heard that lie. I did want to help her, but that was only touching the surface.

Whether the mods were making me think that, or it was what I saw in her… I couldn’t know. And until I had Eva in my sights again, it didn’t matter.

We needed out. Now.

As my resolve hardened, the rest of the half-formed holos cleared the room. Finally, my shoulders relaxed. The members of the med team wobbled to their feet.