Sennik's red support ring bent toward the empty yard.
Talli held it against the ration stake with both hands. The padded strap above Sennik's left shoulder pulled tight enough to flatten the cloth beneath her jaw.
Across the maintenance turn, the White Reaper's forming shoulder faced the stretched line.
Jade's borrowed hand rose from her side.
White fingers reached toward the chain around her living hand. She pressed the borrowed wrist against her stomach and called the rule before either skeleton touched her.
"Borrowed means my hand waits until I choose its next contact."
Ty opened the chain link around her living palm. He kept his jaw on the third link and every rib around the White Reaper wrist.
"Your hand receives no help from mine until you request it."
The borrowed fingers stopped short of Ty's chain. Jade could still feel them trying. The pull entered her elbow and worked beneath the shoulder where bone had replaced flesh months earlier.
