Chapter 17 · Spliced Blood

"Do not draw another card." Valerie jammed her palm against my chest before my fingers reached the black slot in my wrist. "Your deck is eating you alive."

"Move your hand."

"Gladly. After you stop shaking."

The corridor buckled under us. A slab of concrete dropped from the ceiling and smashed into the floor where my head had been. Valerie shoved me sideways, and we hit the wall hard enough to knock dust from the pipes.

My Wraith Deck screamed inside my bones.

Not metaphorically. The cards under my skin flashed one by one, each edge cutting a fresh line of heat through my arm. My vision split into three crooked copies of the same thing: a hulking shape at the far end of the terminal, wrapped in black armor and wet red cables.

The nightmare dragged one plated foot through the wreckage.

"Jesse," Valerie said, low and sharp. "Look at me."

"I'm looking at three of you."

"Pick the one holding a gun."

I found her by the silver barrel pointed at my ribs. Her face was close, close enough for me to feel her breath touch my cheek when she spoke. Dust clung to her lashes.