Chapter 19 · Blackout Bounty

"Tell me what they traded for my sister, or I pull the trigger." Valerie kept the pistol against Jax's temple.

Jax's hands shook above his ruined chest rig. "I don't know the whole deal. I swear to God, I don't."

"God isn't on the Board's payroll," Jesse said. He caught the back of Jax's coat and dragged him away from the gun. "Talk faster."

The little camera inside Jax's false eye clicked. A red dot blinked under the glass.

The High Director's voice came through the alley speakers, calm as a man ordering coffee. "You still think this is an interrogation? Cute."

Valerie swung her pistol toward the nearest speaker. "Show your face."

"Why? You already know what happens when you shoot the messenger."

Jesse shoved Jax behind a stack of cracked power cells. "He isn't the messenger. He's the leash."

"And you're the dog," the Director said. "A very expensive one."

Jesse's Wraith Deck crawled hot beneath his ribs. Black card-shapes pressed against his skin, hungry and restless. His health bar flashed in the corner of his vision.

LIFE TOTAL: 42% RESONANCE LINK: VALERIE VOSS — 42% WARNING: HOSTILE SIGNAL LOCKED

Valerie saw his face change.