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"Drop the deck, Jesse." Valerie Voss kept the pistol against his forehead. "Slowly. No tricks, no cards, no dying hero routine. You try anything, I put a round through your brain."
Jesse's knees pressed into broken concrete. Blood ran from his temple, warm under the cold muzzle. His left hand shook over the black cards orbiting his wrist. The deck pulsed like a second heart, hungry and angry.
"You always talk this much before execution?" he asked.
"Only when the target lies this badly."
"I didn't lie. I said your boss sent the kill squad."
Valerie's finger tightened against the trigger. "You said Director Vale forged my father's treason file. Then you dropped half a building on my agents. Give me one reason not to end this."
Jesse glanced past her shoulder. Smoke crawled through the ruined loading bay. Three armored figures moved behind it, rifles raised. Their red targeting beams slid across the walls, searching for his chest.
"Because if you shoot me, they shoot you next."
"Cute."
"Look left."
"I don't take orders from burned syndicate trash."
"Then take a look from the woman who just got marked for disposal."
Her eyes didn't move, but the pistol shifted a fraction. That was enough. Jesse saw the red dot trembling against her coat, just under her ribs.
Valerie caught it too.
A voice boomed through the smoke. "Auditor Voss. Step away from the fugitive. Your authority is revoked. Lethal correction is approved."
Valerie's jaw locked. "Vale."
"Now you hear him," Jesse said. "Took a gun to your head."
"Shut up."
"You want to keep pretending this is a clean order? Fine. Ask him why your private seal is on the warrant. Ask him why the kill team got permission to erase you before you filed your report."
"You have thirty seconds," Vale called. "Bring me Vance alive, or die beside him."
Jesse smiled without humor. "Your boss sounds worried."
Valerie snapped her gaze back to him. Her pale eyes were steady, but her breathing had changed. Shorter. Faster. He could feel it in the inches between them, each breath brushing his cheek with the sharp smell of gun oil and mint.
"What did you steal?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"What did you see?"
"Your boss ordering a massacre."
"Why would he care about you?"
"He doesn't. He cares about what's inside my deck."
The cards around Jesse's wrist jerked toward her weapon. Valerie shoved the barrel harder into his skin.
"Try pulling a card and I pull the trigger."
"That's not how it works."
"I don't need to understand it. I only need to kill you before it kills me."
"You really think I can control this thing?"
A black card peeled away from the ring and hovered between them. Its face showed a pale mask split by a red line.
SYSTEM NOTICE: WRAITH DECK — SOUL COUNTER 19%
Jesse swallowed. Nineteen. The last fight had burned six points. The deck wanted more. It always wanted more.
Valerie read the glowing text. Her expression went flat.
"A parasitic core," she said. "The Board banned these seven years ago."
"Congratulations. You can read."
"Every card you draw eats your life."
"And every second you keep that gun on me gives Vale time to kill us both."
"You expect me to trust you?"
"No. I expect you to use me. That's what auditors do, right? Find the weak link and pull until the whole rotten thing falls apart."
The first rifle fired.
Valerie twisted, dragging Jesse with her as a round punched through the steel beam above their heads. Sparks burst across the floor. She fired twice into the smoke. One armored shape staggered back.
"Move!" she shouted.
Jesse shoved off the concrete. His shoulder slammed into hers. She was smaller than him, but she drove an elbow into his ribs with enough force to steal his breath.
"Touch me again and lose the hand."
"Noted."
They ran behind a collapsed stack of cargo crates. Bullets chewed through the wood. Valerie crouched beside him, her knee pressed against his thigh because there was nowhere else to fit.
"You shot my agent," she said.
"He was aiming at my spine."
"You burned a card through his armor."
"He kept moving."
"You enjoyed it."
Jesse looked at her. "You want the honest answer?"
"For once."
"I enjoyed still being alive."
For half a second, her stare slipped to his mouth. Then she looked away and checked her magazine.
"Nine rounds," she muttered. "Three hostiles. Maybe four."
"You can count. Another miracle."
"Your jokes are getting worse."
"My blood loss is doing the writing."
A shadow crossed the smoke. Valerie raised her pistol.
Jesse caught her wrist before she fired. Her skin was cold beneath his fingers. She went still, not from fear. From the sudden contact.
"Don't," he whispered.
"Let go."
"The one on the right is bait. The real shooter is above us."
"How do you know?"
"Because Vale trained them to herd targets. He did the same thing in the Dock Riots."
Her eyes sharpened. "You were there?"
"I was the one who opened the east gate."
"That gate trapped two hundred civilians."
"It stopped the syndicate from turning the district into a card farm."
"My father died trying to stop that operation."
"Your father was sold out by Vale."
She ripped her wrist free. "Say that again."
"Your father found the smuggling ledger. Vale put his seal on the file, called him a traitor, and had him executed before the Board could read it."
"You expect me to believe a man who made a living selling bodies to card houses?"
"No. I expect you to check your own evidence."
Valerie's pistol stayed aimed at his chest. "You have proof?"
Jesse tapped the black deck with two fingers. "I have a memory card. Vale's voice. Your father's name. The payment order."
Her face barely changed, but her hand did. The muzzle dipped one inch.
"Where is it?"
"Buried in the deck."
"Then pull it out."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"The deck only reveals locked cards when it gets fed."
"Fed what?"
"A defeated enemy. Or a piece of me."
The armored shooter above them opened fire. Valerie grabbed Jesse's collar and yanked him down. Rounds tore through the crates. The ceiling groaned.
"You're out of time," she said.
"Then stop pointing that at me and let me draw."
"If the card turns on me—"
"It won't."
"You don't know that."
"I know it better than you know your boss."
That landed. Her nostrils flared.
"One card," she said. "You draw one card. If I see a hostile effect, I shoot you before it finishes."
"Deal."
"I didn't agree to a deal."
"You just gave me permission. That's close enough."
Jesse dragged one black card from the orbiting ring. Pain flashed from his wrist to his shoulder. The system text appeared in front of his eyes.
CARD DRAWN: WRAITH SHIELD COST: 8% SOUL COUNTER DURATION: 12 SECONDS TARGET: USER OR LINKED ALLY
"Eight?" Valerie said. "You said one card. You didn't say it would take eight."
"You didn't ask."
"Use it on yourself."
"That's not the smart play."
"I wasn't asking for your opinion."
A rifle cracked. The top of the crate exploded. Metal shards screamed through the air.
Jesse moved before he thought. He grabbed the card, turned, and slammed it against Valerie's chest.
A translucent figure burst from the deck. It looked like a tall dead soldier made of smoke and cracked glass. The spectral shield spread in front of Valerie just as the next burst hit.
The shield took every piece of shrapnel.
The impact drove Jesse into her. His arms closed around her back, holding her upright while the ghost staggered. Heat rushed through the tether between them. Valerie's breath struck his throat.
"You used it on me," she said.
"You were in the way."
"You shoved me behind a dying shield."
"You still breathing?"
"Yes."
"Then stop complaining."
The shield cracked. Black lines raced across its body.
SYSTEM NOTICE: LINKED ALLY PROTECTED SOUL COUNTER: 11%
Valerie stared at the numbers. "You had eleven left."
"Had."
"You spent eight to save me."
"I spent eight to keep the only witness alive. Don't make it romantic."
Her hand closed around the front of his coat. "You don't get to decide what I call it."
"Then call it tactical stupidity."
"That one fits."
The shield shattered. The force threw them through a weak section of flooring. Jesse caught the edge with one hand. Valerie caught his other wrist.
For a second, they hung above a black drainage shaft. Far below, water rushed through the old city pipes.
"Let go," Valerie said.
"Great plan."
"Your hand is slipping."
"So is yours."
"I can shoot you and climb."
"You'd lose the witness."
"I can shoot you and take the deck."
"You'd lose the evidence."
"You really think that card is still in there?"
"I know it is."
A heavy boot struck the floor above them. The kill squad had reached the broken room.
Vale's voice echoed through the shaft. "Auditor Voss, terminate Vance. I will authorize your reinstatement."
Valerie looked up. Then down at Jesse.
"You heard him," Jesse said. "He'll forgive you."
"He'll execute me after I hand him the deck."
"Now you're learning."
"Shut up and climb."
She pulled. Jesse kicked against the wall and hauled himself over the edge. He dragged her up beside him. They landed hard, chest to shoulder, her hand braced against his ribs.
The contact lasted one beat too long.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth again. Jesse felt her pulse jump beneath the fingers still wrapped around his wrist.
"Don't look at me like that," she said.
"Like what?"
"Like you're deciding whether to bite me or save me."
"I'm deciding whether you always threaten people this close."
"Only when they need reminding who's holding the gun."
She pressed the pistol beneath his jaw.
Jesse caught the barrel and pushed it aside. "And who's holding the exit?"
He nodded toward a rusted maintenance hatch behind her. A narrow ladder dropped into the sewer below.
Valerie glanced at it. "You knew that was there."
"I know this district."
"You planned to run."
"I planned to survive. There's a difference."
"You're not going anywhere."
"You can come with me or stay here and explain to Vale why you disobeyed a direct order."
The kill squad stepped through the smoke. Four rifles lifted.
Valerie swore. "Open it."
"Ask nicely."
"Open the damn hatch, Jesse."
"Better."
He slammed his palm against the release. The hatch dropped. Valerie shoved him through first, then jumped after him. They hit the ladder together, her body pinned against his for one tight, breathless second before gravity pulled them down.
The first bullet struck the metal above them. The second blew the ladder loose.
They fell.
Jesse hooked an arm around Valerie's waist. She locked both hands around his coat as they crashed into the shallow sewer channel. Black water splashed over their boots. His back hit the wall. Her knee landed between his legs, hard enough to make him curse.
"You grabbed me," she snapped.
"You were falling."
"You could've grabbed the ladder."
"The ladder was falling too."
A chain smashed through the ceiling behind them. The kill squad began climbing down.
Valerie shoved away and raised her pistol. Jesse seized her sleeve and pulled her into a side tunnel. They ran shoulder to shoulder, boots striking metal grates and wet stone.
"Where are you taking me?" she demanded.
"Somewhere Vale can't scan."
"You mean a hole where you can kill me privately."
"If I wanted you dead, I would've let go upstairs."
"You keep bringing that up."
"You keep acting ungrateful."
The tunnel narrowed. Valerie's shoulder scraped his chest every time they turned. Her breath came hot against his neck. Behind them, armored boots splashed closer.
Jesse stopped at a sealed gate and slapped his bleeding palm against the lock.
"That won't open without a card," Valerie said.
"I know."
"You have one percent left."
"I know that too."
"Then we're trapped."
"Not yet."
He pulled the pale mask card from the deck. The card trembled between his fingers.
SYSTEM NOTICE: SOUL COUNTER CRITICAL WRAITH DECK REQUESTS EMERGENCY PAYMENT
Valerie grabbed his hand. "Don't draw."
"Move."
"No."
"You're blocking the lock."
"Because the last card nearly killed you."
"You care now?"
Her eyes flashed. "I care about getting answers before Vale turns both of us into evidence."
"Then give me your hand."
"What?"
"The deck needs a linked signature."
"You said it feeds on defeated enemies."
"It does. But a tether can force a second channel."
"You want to link me to that thing?"
"I want to open the gate."
"What does the tether do?"
"It lets us share damage."
"That wasn't the question."
"It also lets me feel where you are."
She stepped closer until the barrel of her pistol rested against his forehead again. Her gloved hand caught his collar and pulled him down to her eye level.
"You put a leash on me, Vance, and I will find a way to cut your throat with it."
Jesse looked at her mouth, then back to her eyes. "You'd have to stay close."
"Don't flirt while bleeding."
"Don't threaten me while holding me."
"Give me one reason."
Behind them, the tunnel filled with red targeting beams.
Jesse lifted the card between their faces. "Because Vale knows what happened to your father. I know where the proof is. And if we don't bind the deck now, neither of us gets out of this pipe."
Valerie's breath shook once. She hated that he noticed.
"If this kills me—"
"It won't."
"You don't know that."
"No. But I know the soldiers behind you will."
A rifle clicked.
Valerie looked past him. Then she shoved her bare hand into his.
Her palm was cold. His was slick with blood.
"Do it," she said. "But if you betray me, I won't wait for the deck to kill you."
"You keep making promises you can't afford."
"Try me."
Jesse pressed the mask card against their joined hands.
The card dissolved into black threads. They wrapped around his wrist, crossed Valerie's palm, and snapped tight beneath her sleeve. A sharp pulse punched through both of them.
Valerie gasped and slammed him against the gate. The pistol climbed under his chin. Jesse's back hit metal. Their faces were inches apart, her breath hot, his blood slipping between their hands.
SYSTEM NOTICE: RESONANCE TETHER ESTABLISHED LINKED PARTNER: VALERIE VOSS FAILURE CONDITION: SEVERE PAIN / CARD LOCK DISTANCE LIMIT: 30 FEET
Valerie stared at the glowing words. Her fingers tightened around his wrist as if she could crush the new black mark away.
"You said temporary," she whispered.
"I said nothing."
"You trapped me."
"Yes."
The admission hit harder than the tether. Her eyes went cold.
"Open the gate," she said.
"Say please."
She cocked the pistol. "Open it, or I test the failure condition on your skull."
Jesse smiled, though his soul counter had dropped to zero.
The gate unlocked with a heavy clank. Behind them, the kill squad rounded the bend.
Valerie dragged Jesse through the opening, then kicked the lever down. The gate slammed shut between them and the rifles.
They stumbled into the sewer chamber. Jesse barely took two steps before his knees buckled. Valerie caught him by the coat and shoved him against the opposite wall, keeping the gun pressed to his bloody forehead.
The tether burned between their joined wrists.
"Thirty feet," she said. "You made sure I can't leave you."
"You made sure I couldn't die before answering you."
"Wrong. I made sure you couldn't run."
"Same result."
Her thumb brushed the blood away from his brow. The touch was quick, almost angry. Her eyes stayed on the wound.
"Tell me where the memory card is," she said.
Jesse's deck twitched against his wrist.
A new system notice appeared between them.
LOCKED CARD DETECTED: VALE PROTOCOL CONDITION TO REVEAL: LINKED PARTNER MUST SPEAK THE EXECUTION ORDER
Valerie read it. Her face drained of color.
Jesse felt the pistol press harder into his skin.
"What did your boss order you to do before he sent you after me?" he asked—