Chapter 21 · Scrap Iron Bargain

"Get your hand off my trigger, Vance, or I shoot through it." Valerie's fingers closed around Jesse's wrist before he could fire.

The rifle bucked anyway.

A red bolt slammed into the alley wall beside his head. Rust and brick dust sprayed across his cheek. Jesse dragged Valerie down behind a stack of crushed engine blocks as another shot punched through the metal.

"You said the exit was clear," she snapped.

"It was clear when I said it. Then your friends brought half the Board's street sweepers." He shoved a fresh card into the Wraith Deck. The black rectangle twitched against his palm like it had a pulse. "Still planning to execute me, Auditor?"

Valerie's shoulder pressed hard against his. Her breath touched his jaw, warm and quick. She didn't flinch when the marrow burn crawled up his arm, but her eyes dropped to the gray veins spreading under his skin.

"If you die before I get answers, I lose my only witness. So no. Not yet."

"That's almost sweet."

"Don't make me regret it."

Another burst ripped through the workshop doors. The old iron shutters bent inward.