I clawed at my bindings so hard I snapped off a fingernail, but the pain didn’t register. All I could feel were the warm drops of blood on my face.

Tair’s blood pooled, soaking through his white coat.

No.

No, no. I’d seen this happening so many ways, but the reality of it…

My hands shook as I loosened the last of the ties. The guards held their positions while I dragged myself toward Tair.

No rush. All they had to do was wait.

Darren folded his arms in the doorway. His lips pressed together, but he wasn’t choked up. If anything, the asshole was trying not to smile. Letting me move around so I could get a better angle to watch Tair bleed.

Fucking Darren.

Later. Later I’d kill the bastard.

Now…

Tair’s gaze found mine, and my fingers shook as I cupped the sides of his face.

You have to survive… His fading voice lodged in my chest like an axe.

No. I gripped his chin, forcing him to keep looking at me. You do not get to leave me here.

Not that I had no business being selfish when it was my fault Tair lay dying. Dying because he’d gotten tangled up with me.

Not leaving. He barely had the strength to lift his arm, but Tair touched my hand on his face. Can’t leave…

Tair’s eyes started to lose focus as the life spilled out of him with all that blood.

Hot blood.

Hot, red blood.

Everywhere.

Oh, gods.

I leaned over him, pressing my forehead to his. So much for the futures I’d seen. Neither of us would get the chance to be that happy. If I could go back…

Back… Tair’s voice echoed in my head.

I wobbled, suddenly light-headed. Maybe it was all the blood. My vision blurred, either with tears or dizziness. I couldn’t tell.

“Move away from him.” Darren’s hateful voice pierced through my haze.

But Tair still took shallow, gurgling breaths. I couldn’t leave.

My hands pressed against his face, slick with his blood.

My fingers hot. His growing colder.

Anything. I’d do anything to stop this.

Another wave of dizziness had my head spinning so hard I could barely keep upright. As my eyes slipped out of focus, I sensed the thing I’d been forgetting.

Time.

The book of the universe that only I could read.

Except I wasn’t alone anymore. Eva had seen to that.

As long as I touched Tair, I could borrow his brain. Even now, I could sense things I’d never notice on my own. The temperature of his skin, slowly cooling. The scent of ozone from the burned out holo equipment.