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"Slot it, Jesse!" Jax slammed the broken card against Jesse's palm. "Now, before that door disappears!"
The card bit into Jesse's skin.
Not cut. Bit.
Black lines crawled from the chip and wrapped around his fingers like tiny wires. His deck answered with a wet, grinding click beneath his ribs. Every card in the Wraith Deck flashed at once.
His knees buckled.
Valerie caught the front of his coat and drove him back against the maintenance cage. Her pistol pressed under his jaw. Her breath hit his cheek, warm and sharp with smoke.
"Do not drop it," she said.
"Great advice." Jesse's fingers shook around the card. "You got anything useful?"
"Yes. If you fail, I shoot you before the deck eats you."
"That's not useful. That's flirting with extra steps."
Her eyes narrowed. Pale blue. Hard enough to cut glass.
"Try me."
The blast door behind them folded inward with a shriek. Red targeting beams cut through the smoke and painted Jesse's chest.
Jax ducked behind the overturned weapons cabinet. "Less flirting! More inserting!"
"He's right," Valerie snapped. She grabbed Jesse's wrist and forced his hand toward the glowing seam beneath his sternum. "Put it in."
Jesse looked down at the card.
It was the size of a coin, but it felt like a live animal trying to chew through his bones. The edges kept changing shape. One second it was metal. The next, it was a strip of black glass covered in crawling red symbols.
His deck hissed inside him.
Whisper Counter: 3.
The number appeared across his vision, thin and red.
"Jax," Jesse said. "You called this compatible."
"I called it maybe compatible."
"You left out the part where maybe means my soul gets cooked."
"You were already dying!"
"I was dying with style."
A rifle cracked.
The round punched through the cabinet and tore sparks from the wall beside Jesse's head. Valerie twisted, pulled him lower, and fired over his shoulder. Her pistol barked twice.
Someone screamed beyond the ruined door.
"One down," she said.
"You counting?"
"I count everything."
"Then count the people trying to kill us."
"Seven rifles. Two deck carriers. One command unit."
Jesse stared at her. "You got all that from two shots?"
"I got it from listening while you talked."
"You liked listening to me."
Her hand tightened around his wrist. The resonance tether between them answered, a hot pulse that ran from her palm into his arm. Jesse felt her fear under the control. Small. Buried. Real.
She felt him notice.
"Don't," she whispered.
"Don't what?"
"Look at me like you know me."
Another shot chewed through the cage above them.
Jesse smiled without humor. "Lady, your contract is inside my chest. I know when your pulse jumps."
"And I know when yours skips. Keep pushing me and I will let it."
"You won't."
"You sound very sure for a man holding a card that wants him dead."
"You need me alive."
"I need your deck."
"Same problem."
Jax slapped a fresh magazine into his pistol and leaned around the cabinet. "Can you two finish the murder-marriage argument later? The Board brought a burner squad."
Valerie's gaze snapped toward him. "Burners?"
"Red-core units. They don't negotiate. They don't surrender. They burn the whole block if the target gets away."
"How long?" she asked.
Jax checked the flickering wall display. "Ninety seconds before the purge charge goes live."
Jesse pushed the card against his chest.
The seam opened.
Pain punched through him so fast his vision flashed white. He bit down on a curse. The card slid halfway into the deck, then stopped, shivering in the gap.
The Wraith Deck rejected it.
A black warning burned across his vision.
UNSTABLE CARD.
SOUL-BURN REQUIRED.
Whisper Counter: 2.
Jax's face went gray. "Oh, hell."
"That's your professional opinion?" Jesse asked.
"Pull it out."
Valerie grabbed the card. "You said insert it."
"The deck rejected the handshake. Pull it out before the feedback locks."
Jesse caught her hand before she could yank it free. Her fingers were cold against his skin. His were slick with blood.
"No," he said.
Valerie leaned close. "That wasn't a suggestion."
"You pull it, the deck blows."
"You leave it, you burn."
"Then we have a plan."
Her face was inches from his. Smoke curled between them. A strand of pale hair stuck to her cheek, and Jesse had the stupid urge to move it.
Instead, he tightened his grip on her fingers.
"Hold the line," he said.
"What line?"
"The one keeping my soul attached."
For half a second, her expression cracked.
"You don't know what you're doing."
"Neither does your boss. That's why he sent a whole squad."
"This isn't one of your street fights."
"No. In my street fights, people usually stop shooting when they lose."
A shadow moved through the doorway.
Valerie shoved Jesse down and fired. The bullet struck a black-armored soldier in the shoulder, but the man's chest core flared red instead of dimming. He raised a heavy repeater.
Jax threw a card.
It burst into a hard blue wall between them. The repeater opened up. Rounds smashed into the barrier, each impact making the card flicker.
"That wall has six seconds!" Jax yelled.
"You keep making these cards worse," Jesse said.
"You keep using them wrong!"
Valerie planted one boot on Jesse's thigh and braced herself against the cage. "What do you need?"
Jesse stared at the card lodged in his chest.
"Blood."
"You already used yours to unlock the memory card."
"Not mine."
Her eyes dropped to the tether mark on her wrist. A thin line of red light circled her skin where their contract had sealed.
"No," she said.
"I didn't ask yet."
"You were about to."
"Your blood can stabilize the resonance."
"You don't know that."
"Jax does."
Jax fired twice through the blue barrier. "I know it might!"
Valerie looked at him. "That is not better."
"If you have a cleaner idea, now would be a fantastic time."
The barrier cracked.
One of the armored soldiers shoved a burning card into the gap. Red fire crawled across the blue surface. The wall began to sag.
Valerie turned back to Jesse. "If I give you blood, what happens?"
"The card may accept the tether."
"And if it doesn't?"
"We burn together."
She gave a small, humorless laugh. "You say that like it's romantic."
"I say it like we're out of options."
"You always this charming when you're about to die?"
"Only with armed women."
She grabbed his collar and pulled his face closer. The movement dragged his chest against hers through layers of torn fabric. Her breath stopped for one sharp beat.
"Listen carefully," she said. "If you use my blood and survive, you are going to owe me."
"Already do."
"No. You owe me a debt that doesn't end with a smart mouth and a stolen weapon."
"Name it."
Her thumb pressed against his throat, right over his pulse.
"I decide when you run. I decide when you fight. And if you ever use this tether to crawl into my head again, I will carve your deck out with my own hands."
Jesse's pulse jumped beneath her thumb.
Her eyes flicked down.
He saw the moment she noticed.
"You counting that one too?" he asked.
"I don't need to count. You're obvious."
"You keep touching me for a woman who hates me."
Valerie's grip tightened. "I keep touching you because you're a liability."
"Sure."
"Say one more word."
"You want me quiet?"
"For once."
She drew a narrow blade from her belt and sliced across her palm.
Jesse's grin vanished.
Blood welled bright against her skin. She pressed her hand over his chest, around the card, and the tether snapped tight.
Heat slammed through both of them.
Valerie gasped. Not loud. Just enough for him to hear it.
The deck pulled.
Jesse felt her memories scrape against the contract. A child's hand. A man's voice saying her name. A locked office. Red seals burning across a document.
Then the image tore away.
Valerie jerked back and slapped him across the face.
"Get out."
Jesse tasted blood. "I wasn't digging."
"You were there."
"So were you."
"Get out of my head!"
"I can't. You tied yourself to me."
"I tied myself to the contract, not you."
"The contract disagrees."
The card clicked deeper.
Whisper Counter: 1.
The warning turned black.
SOUL-BURN INCOMING.
Jax saw Jesse's expression and swore. "That's it. No more waiting. You have to trigger the detonation now."
"Detonation?" Valerie snapped. "You said overload."
"Same family of bad idea!"
"Jax!"
"The card will eat the unstable cores in the squad. It might clear us a path. It might also turn Jesse into a walking crater."
Jesse shoved himself upright. His legs nearly folded, but Valerie caught his elbow.
He looked at her hand on him.
"Don't let go," he said.
"I wasn't planning to."
The answer came too fast.
Both of them noticed.
Valerie released him like his sleeve had burned her. "I meant so you don't fall."
"Of course you did."
"Move."
She stepped in front of him and raised her pistol toward the doorway.
Jesse grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. "No. You cover my flank."
"You don't give me orders."
"Then call it a tactical request."
"I call it stupid."
"You can call it whatever you want after I save your life."
"You haven't saved anything."
The blue barrier shattered.
Three soldiers rushed through the smoke. Their armor was marked with the High Board's red seal. Behind them, a taller figure lifted a weapon with a glowing core mounted beneath the barrel.
"Target confirmed," the commander said. "Jesse Vance and Auditor Voss. Execute both."
Valerie fired first.
Her shot hit the commander's weapon and knocked it sideways. The blast scorched the ceiling instead of Jesse's skull.
Jesse drove his palm against the card.
"Hey," he said to Valerie.
She glanced back. "What?"
"When this goes wrong—"
"It will."
"When it goes wrong, don't save me."
Her jaw tightened. "Shut up."
"You heard me. Get clear."
"You don't get to decide that."
"I just did."
The first soldier lunged.
Jesse pulled the card the rest of the way into the deck.
The world stopped.
Not quiet. Stopped.
Every bullet hung in the air. Every red targeting beam froze in place. The soldiers' mouths opened around silent orders. Even Valerie stood motionless, one hand raised, her eyes locked on him.
Then the deck spoke.
Not in words.
In a voice that sounded like fingernails dragged across the inside of his skull.
BURN THE BURNERS.
Jesse's soul caught fire.
He screamed and dropped to one knee.
The card tore through his deck, devouring every unstable signal around it. Red cores flared in the soldiers' armor. The commander's weapon exploded in his hands, throwing him into the wall.
Valerie moved again.
She grabbed Jesse by the back of his neck and hauled him behind a support pillar as the alley erupted. Flame rolled over the floor. The three soldiers collapsed, their armor going dark.
Jesse hit the concrete hard. Valerie landed over him, one knee planted beside his hip, one hand braced against his shoulder.
Her hair brushed his mouth.
"Stay with me," she said.
"You sound worried."
"You sound stupid."
"That means yes."
She shoved his face away. "Can you stand?"
"Ask nicer."
"Stand, or I drag you."
"There it is."
He forced himself up. The deck burned beneath his ribs. Each breath scraped. The unstable card had fused with the Wraith Deck, but its edges kept flickering between red and black.
Jax staggered from behind the ruined cabinet. His jacket was smoking, and one side of his glasses had melted.
"Good news," he said.
Valerie aimed her pistol at him. "You have five seconds."
"The card took the burners."
"Bad news?"
Jax pointed toward the alley mouth.
More red lights appeared through the smoke.
"It woke something bigger."
The concrete under Jesse's boots shuddered.
A deep mechanical growl rolled through the walls. The dead soldiers' cores began to pulse again, one after another, feeding energy into the black card inside Jesse's chest.
Valerie stepped closer. "What did you put in him?"
"I didn't put anything in him. He put it in himself."
"Jax."
"It's an echo card. It copies the strongest active core nearby."
Jesse looked toward the red lights. "How strong?"
Jax swallowed. "Strong enough to punch through this entire tunnel."
Valerie grabbed Jesse's coat and pulled him nose-to-nose with her. "You said you could control it."
"I said I could try."
"Try harder."
"Give me a minute."
"You don't have a minute."
She shoved a fresh magazine into her pistol and turned toward the alley. Jesse caught her wrist.
The tether flashed.
Her breath caught again.
"You're going out there," he said.
"I'm covering the exit."
"You go alone, they cut you down."
"Then keep up."
"The card is still feeding."
"Then stop it."
"If I lose control—"
"I shoot you."
"You say that like you mean it."
Valerie looked back at him. The fire painted one side of her face gold and left the other in shadow.
"I mean everything I say to you."
For one stupid second, Jesse forgot the burning in his chest.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth, then snapped away.
"Move, Vance."
He followed her toward the alley.
The red lights sharpened.
A heavy shape stepped through the smoke, taller than any soldier, wrapped in black plating. Its chest held a core the size of a shield. High Board markings crawled over its armor, but someone had scratched a second symbol across the seal: a hooked black hand.
Jax stopped behind them. "That's not a Board unit."
Valerie raised her pistol. "What is it?"
"A collector."
The machine lifted one arm. A cannon unfolded from its wrist.
Jesse's deck screamed.
The black card pulled at the collector's core, trying to rip it free. Jesse's vision blurred. His fingers locked into claws.
"Jesse," Valerie said.
"Busy."
"Look at me."
He did.
She stood close enough that her shoulder pressed against his. Her hand found the back of his neck, steady and warm despite the blood on her palm.
"Tell me what you need."
"A miracle."
"Try again."
"Your trust."
Her eyes hardened. "You don't have it."
"Then fake it."
The collector's cannon charged.
Valerie leaned closer, her mouth near his ear. "On my shot, you release the card."
"Release it where?"
"Into the core."
"That thing will take my deck with it."
"Then hold on."
"You planning to catch me?"
"I'm planning to keep you alive long enough to owe me."
Her pistol rose.
Jesse felt the tether tighten around both their hearts.
The collector fired.
Valerie shoved Jesse sideways. The shot ripped through the pillar where his head had been. Concrete exploded across his back.
She fired once.
The round flew past Jesse's neck, close enough to burn his skin. He felt the heat graze him. Valerie's eyes met his through the smoke as the bullet struck the collector's chest core.
The core cracked.
"Now!" she shouted.
Jesse opened his hand.
The Wraith Deck answered.
Black chains burst from his chest and wrapped around the collector. The machine fought, dragging him across the concrete. Pain tore through Jesse's ribs. His boots slid toward the open cannon.
Valerie grabbed the back of his coat and pulled against him.
"Hold it!" she yelled.
"I'm trying!"
"Try louder!"
"I hate you!"
"Good! Use it!"
The collector's core split wider.
Jax fired card after card into its legs. "Jesse, the echo is copying the core! If it reaches full charge, it won't just explode—it'll duplicate!"
"In English!"
"One blast becomes two!"
"Valerie!"
She looked at him. "What?"
"Shoot the crack again!"
"Your head is behind it."
"You said you count everything. Count faster!"
The collector raised its other arm. A blade of red light formed above its wrist.
Valerie's eyes flicked from the crack to Jesse's neck.
Then she stepped around him.
The tether pulled them tight. Her shoulder brushed his chest. Her pistol came up beside his face.
"Don't move," she said.
"Wasn't planning to."
"I mean it."
"You always do."
The collector swung.
Valerie fired.
The round grazed Jesse's neck, hot enough to sting, then punched straight into the cracked core.
The collector locked in place.
For one breath, nobody moved.
Valerie stared at Jesse through the smoke. Her pistol remained beside his cheek. His blood ran in a thin line beneath her shot's heat.
"Did I miss?" she asked.
Jesse swallowed. "By less than an inch."
"Good."
"That's your version of an apology?"
"You wanted clean aim."
"I wanted a warning."
"You had one. I said don't move."
The collector's core began to scream.
Jax backed away. "Drop the chains!"
"If I do, it follows us!" Jesse shouted.
"If you don't, it takes your deck!"
Valerie's hand slid from Jesse's coat to his wrist. Her thumb pressed against the tether mark.
"Jesse. Let it go."
"No."
"That's an order."
"You're not my commander."
"No. I'm the only person here who can pull you back."
The card's whisper vanished.
Whisper Counter: 0.
Jesse's vision filled with black.
The collector's core opened like a red eye.
Valerie's fingers locked around his wrist. "Jesse, release—"
The whole alley bled into shadow.