Yun-Jin's laugh died when the clapping began in Ty's rhythm.
It came from the service lane ahead, palms meeting with the same dry spacing Ty used when he wanted a bad plan to feel even worse. JJ felt her stomach turn before her head finished naming the sound. Ty had just been torn through Earth and back with a rib in his hand, Jade's blood in the rescue thread, and half his fire lagging behind his own bones.
Hearing that rhythm waiting in the dark made the narrow lane feel smaller, and Ty lifted both sickles without looking away from it.
The red fire along his ribs came uneven now. Some gaps burned hot. Others gave only a weak pulse under the old bone. Earth had taken more from him than the rib JJ had thrown back, and he still put himself at the front like there was a rule carved inside him.
JJ pushed off the wall. Her legs complained, then lost the argument.
"If that sound belongs to another copy of you, I need names and a complaint desk before we proceed."
