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"Keep moving, or I leave you here." Valerie shoved Jesse through the busted service door just as a round punched through the metal beside his head.
Jesse hit the floor on one knee. His bad side screamed. The Wraith Deck crawled under his skin, hot and hungry, chewing through the last scraps of strength he had left.
"You shove me again," he rasped, "and I make you carry me."
"Try it."
She caught his coat and hauled him upright. Her palm pressed against his ribs for half a second. Warm. Steady. Too close. Jesse felt her breath brush his cheek when she leaned around him and fired twice into the tunnel.
A guard shouted, "They went inside! Seal the shop!"
The door slammed behind them.
A metal bar dropped into place on the other side. Then another. Boots hammered across the street, circling the building.
Jesse looked past Valerie. The shop was narrow, filthy, and packed with rusted card cases. A dead neon sign buzzed over the counter. Behind it, a thick-necked dealer stared at them with a pistol in one hand and a silver access key in the other.
Jax Novak was crouched behind a stack of crates, one hand clamped over his bleeding shoulder.
"You picked a great hiding place," Jesse said.
Jax winced. "I had better options. They were on fire."
"The whole market's crawling with Board troops," Valerie said. She locked the door behind them, then turned the bolt. "How many?"
"Eight at the front. Maybe more outside."
The dealer lifted his pistol. "Nobody moves."
Jesse glanced at the weapon. "You planning to shoot all three of us with one round?"
"I can shoot the woman first. She'll be worth more alive."
Valerie's eyes narrowed. "You know who I am."
"Everyone knows who you are, Auditor Voss." The dealer swallowed. His fingers tightened around the access key. "The High Board put a clean price on your head. Jesse Vance gets a cheaper one."
"Then open the back exit," Jesse said. "You can collect both prices later."
"You don't get to bargain."
"Funny. You still haven't pulled the trigger."
The dealer's gaze dropped to Jesse's chest, where the edge of the Wraith Deck showed through torn fabric. A black card pulsed against his skin. Thin red lines flickered across its surface like a damaged status display.
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 11%]
The dealer's mouth went dry.
"That's what they're after," he whispered.
Valerie stepped in front of Jesse, blocking the man's view. "Tell me why the Board sent eight heavy guards for a wounded man and a splicer with a bad shoulder."
"Because he has the core."
Jesse's hand closed around the hilt of his knife. "Say that again."
"You heard me."
Outside, something struck the storefront. Dust fell from the ceiling. A red targeting beam slid beneath the door and crawled over Valerie's boots.
"Gas," Jax said.
The dealer kicked a valve under the counter.
A sharp hiss filled the shop.
Gray vapor poured from the ceiling vents.
Valerie grabbed Jesse's sleeve. "Mask."
"I don't have one."
She pulled a filter mask from her belt and shoved it against his mouth.
Jesse caught her wrist before she could let go. "What about you?"
"I have another."
"Liar."
Her jaw tightened. "Breathe through it."
"You first."
The gas thickened around their knees. Jax swore and dragged himself toward a cabinet. The dealer backed away, coughing into his sleeve.
Valerie leaned close enough that Jesse could feel the heat of her through the filter. "If you pass out, I drag you. If I pass out, you drag me. Clear?"
"You planning to pass out against me?"
"I am planning to keep you alive long enough to interrogate you."
"That almost sounded like concern."
"Don't flatter yourself."
The first guard crashed through the front window.
Valerie shoved Jesse down as a burst of gunfire tore through the shelves. Metal card tins exploded around them. Jesse rolled behind the counter, came up with the dealer's pistol hand in his grip, and slammed the man's wrist against the wood.
The pistol fired into the ceiling.
"Where's the back exit?" Jesse growled.
"Go to hell!"
Jesse twisted harder. The dealer cried out.
"Wrong answer."
A guard vaulted over the counter. He wore a plated vest, a sealed helmet, and a glowing red card mounted over his heart.
[HEAVY UNIT: IRON MANTLE]
Jesse drove his shoulder into the guard's chest. The impact threw them both into a rack of glass cases. The guard's armor held. Jesse's ribs did not.
Valerie fired from the hip. Her shot struck the guard's knee joint. The heavy unit dropped, but his gauntlet caught Jesse by the throat and lifted him off the floor.
"Jesse!"
The Wraith Deck reacted before Jesse could. A black card snapped out from beneath his coat and burned across his palm.
[GRAVE HOUND: READY]
"Not yet," Jesse choked.
The guard squeezed.
Valerie moved between two shelves, close enough to touch the guard's helmet. "Look at me."
The guard turned toward her.
She tossed a small silver disk onto the floor.
"Flash."
White light filled the shop.
The heavy unit released Jesse and staggered. Valerie hooked his ankle, and Jesse drove both boots into his chest. The armored man crashed through the counter and landed on the dealer's display table.
Jesse hit the floor hard. Valerie dropped beside him, one hand gripping the back of his neck.
"Stay down."
"You keep putting your hands there, people will talk."
"People are trying to kill us."
"So that's a no?"
She shoved his face away from hers. Her fingers lingered for one dangerous beat before she pulled back.
A second guard fired through the smoke.
The bullet clipped Valerie's shoulder plate and spun her into Jesse. He caught her around the waist. Her body struck his chest, and her gloved hand braced against his collar.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Her breath came fast against his mouth. His hand was spread over the hard line of her back. The gas burned his lungs, but her skin felt hotter than the room.
"Let go," she whispered.
"You hit me first."
"I said let go."
"You sure?"
Her eyes dropped to his mouth and snapped back up. "Jesse."
The warning in her voice should have been enough. He released her.
She turned and shot the second guard through the hand. He screamed and dropped his weapon.
"That's two," Jax called from behind the cabinet. "Six left."
"You counting?" Jesse shouted.
"Helps me panic."
The front door burst inward.
Three guards rushed through together, shields locked. Their boots hit the floor in perfect rhythm. Behind them, two more climbed through the broken window.
Valerie shoved Jesse toward the rear wall. "We need the exit."
"Ask the dealer."
"He's busy bleeding."
The dealer crawled away from the wrecked table, one hand pressed to his side. "There is no exit."
Jesse looked at him. "Then why does your key have a door symbol?"
The dealer's eyes flicked toward the floor behind the shelves.
Valerie saw it too. "Back wall."
A shield slammed into Jesse's chest before he could move. He flew backward and struck the plaster. Pain flashed through his ribs. The Wraith Deck pulsed against his bones.
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 10%]
"Damn it," Jesse said.
The shield guard advanced.
"You drop below ten, that deck eats you," Valerie said.
"I know."
"Then stop fighting like an idiot."
"You got a better plan?"
"Yes. Follow my lead."
"That sounds worse."
She fired at the shop's overhead pipes.
The pipe split. A blast of freezing water slammed down between the guards. Their shields sparked. The gas churned into a blinding gray cloud.
Valerie grabbed Jesse's hand.
Her glove locked around his fingers, tight enough to hurt. She pulled him through the fog.
"Don't lose me," she said.
"I thought you hated touching me."
"I hate dying more."
They ran three steps before a guard caught Jesse by the back of his coat.
Valerie refused to let go. The resonance tether between them snapped tight. A hot line of pain cut through Jesse's chest, and Valerie gasped at the same time.
"Don't pull away," Jesse warned.
"I'm not the one being dragged."
The guard yanked Jesse backward. His boots scraped across the flooded floor.
Jesse twisted and drove an elbow into the guard's visor. The helmet cracked but did not break. The guard punched him in the stomach.
Jesse folded.
Valerie's grip tightened around his hand. "Look at me."
He spat blood onto the floor. "You really like saying that."
"Look at me, Vance."
He did.
Her face was inches from his. Water ran down her cheek from the broken pipe. Her eyes were cold, sharp, and furious.
"Use the deck," she said. "Not the fire card. The other one."
"The Grave Hound eats a defeated card."
"Then defeat him."
"He has armor."
"You have me."
The words hit harder than the punch.
Valerie released his hand and stepped into the guard's reach. He swung at her. She ducked, caught his wrist, and used his momentum to turn him toward Jesse.
Jesse drove his knee into the guard's leg.
The man buckled.
Jesse slapped the black card against the cracked visor.
"Run, hound."
The card split open with a sound like tearing metal. A shadow-shaped beast burst across the guard's armor. It did not bite flesh. It tore through the glowing card mounted over the man's heart.
The red light died.
The guard collapsed.
[ENEMY CARD ACQUIRED: IRON MANTLE]
[GRAVE HOUND COOLDOWN: 09 SECONDS]
Jesse staggered. The deck pulled at him, eager and filthy. He felt a sharp burn crawl from his palm to his elbow.
Valerie caught his jaw and forced his face toward hers. "Stay with me."
"You keep touching my face, Auditor."
"You keep trying to die."
"Maybe I'm doing it for attention."
"Then you picked the wrong woman."
Two guards charged from the smoke.
Valerie shoved Jesse behind her and fired until the magazine clicked empty. One guard went down. The other kept coming.
Jesse threw the stolen pistol. It struck the guard's helmet and bounced off.
"That was your plan?" Valerie snapped.
"It was a great plan until you criticized it."
The guard raised his weapon.
Jesse grabbed a steel card case and swung it into the man's knee. The guard stumbled. Valerie drove her shoulder into him, and all three of them crashed into the shelves.
Glass shattered across the floor.
Jesse landed on top of Valerie. His hands caught the floor on either side of her head. Her hair had come loose from its tie. A strand stuck to her wet cheek.
"Move," she said.
"Working on it."
"Your hand is on my waist."
"That's the floor."
"The floor isn't wearing a gun belt."
He looked down. His palm was pressed against the side of her waist, just above the belt holding her weapons.
The gas burned his throat. Her pulse beat fast beneath his fingers.
Valerie's hand closed around the front of his coat. "If you don't move in the next second, I will—"
A boot kicked Jesse across the room.
He hit the wall and slid down. Valerie rolled away as the guard fired. The shot tore through the shelf where her head had been.
Jax popped up behind the cabinet and threw a metal hook.
It caught the guard's ankle.
"Now would be good!" Jax yelled.
Valerie swept the line with her boot. The guard fell backward. Jesse lunged, seized the man's rifle, and wrenched it free.
The weapon discharged into the ceiling.
Chunks of plaster rained down.
"Four left," Jax called.
"You said six," Jesse said.
"Two are outside. I was counting the ones inside."
"You are terrible at helping."
"Still alive, aren't you?"
The dealer slammed his silver key against the floor.
A section of shelving shifted, revealing a narrow steel door.
Valerie saw it. So did the remaining guards.
"Move!" she shouted.
The guards surged forward.
Jesse grabbed the dealer by the collar and dragged him toward the door. "Open it."
"The key only works for me."
"Then keep your fingers attached."
The dealer stumbled. "You think the tunnel saves you? The Board sealed the market."
Valerie fired over Jesse's shoulder. A guard dropped beside them.
"Less talking," she said. "More opening."
The dealer pressed his key to the lock.
Nothing happened.
Jesse slammed him against the door. "Try again."
"It needs a blood mark."
"Use yours."
"The lock won't accept mine."
Valerie stepped close. "What will it accept?"
The dealer stared at Jesse's chest.
Jesse felt the Wraith Deck pulse beneath his torn shirt.
"No," he said.
Valerie looked at him. "What?"
"Whatever he's about to suggest, no."
The dealer lifted a shaking finger. "The core. It has to read the Wraith signature."
"Absolutely not."
"If you don't open that door, those guards will tear you apart."
"Then shoot them."
"I'm out of rounds."
"You are always out of something."
Valerie reached for the deck.
Jesse caught her wrist.
Her skin was warm beneath his glove. The contact sent a jolt through the resonance tether. Both of them flinched.
"Don't touch it," he said.
"Why?"
"Because it takes what it wants."
"It is already taking you."
"You sound worried."
"I'm worried about the mission."
"The mission has my name on it?"
Her eyes held his. "The mission has my life tied to yours. That's close enough."
The words landed between them. Neither pulled away.
A guard shouted, "Voss! Step away from Vance!"
Valerie turned her head. "Come closer and I'll show you where to step."
The guard raised his weapon.
Jesse shoved Valerie aside and took the shot in his shoulder plate. The impact spun him into the steel door.
The Wraith Deck flared.
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 9%]
Valerie caught him before he fell. Her arm locked around his chest, pulling him against her. He felt her heart hammering through her vest.
"You idiot," she breathed.
"You already used that one."
"I have more."
"Save them for the guards."
She pressed her forehead against his for one sharp second. "Give me the card."
Jesse stared at her.
"Now," she said. "Before I lose patience."
"You already lost it."
"Jesse."
He drew the black card from his palm.
The edge cut into his skin. Dark fire crawled up his fingers. Valerie watched it with a tight mouth, then took his hand and pressed it against the lock.
The steel door screamed.
A red symbol appeared beneath his palm.
[RESONANCE MATCH DETECTED]
[SECOND SIGNATURE REQUIRED]
Valerie's eyes narrowed. "Second signature?"
The dealer shook his head. "The tether. It needs both of you."
"Of course it does," Jesse said.
Valerie placed her hand over his.
Her fingers slid between his. The heat of her palm met the burning card. The lock flashed white.
For one second, Jesse heard her heartbeat inside his own chest.
Then the door unlocked.
The guards fired.
Valerie shoved Jesse through first. Jax followed, dragging the dealer by his coat. Valerie stepped backward through the opening and slammed the door as bullets punched into the steel.
The lock sealed.
Jesse leaned against the tunnel wall, gasping. Valerie stood close enough that her shoulder brushed his. Neither of them let go of the other's hand until the resonance flare faded.
"You can release me now," she said.
"You can release me."
"I was holding the card."
"You were holding my hand."
"Your hand was in the way."
"Convenient."
She tugged free. Her glove left a faint warmth behind.
Jax limped past them. "Can you two flirt after we stop the bleeding?"
Valerie pointed her empty pistol at him. "Say that again."
"I said the tunnel is collapsing."
"You said both."
"I value honesty."
The tunnel shook. Dust dropped from the ceiling. Somewhere behind the sealed door, the guards began cutting through the metal.
The dealer hurried ahead, coughing hard. Jesse followed with one hand pressed to his shoulder. Valerie stayed beside him, close enough to catch him if his knees gave out.
He noticed.
She noticed him noticing.
"Don't make a comment," she said.
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
"My face is injured."
"Your face is annoying."
"You keep looking at it."
She glanced at him. "I am checking for damage."
"And?"
"Still annoying."
The dealer stopped at the end of the tunnel.
A rusted ladder led up into a locked hatch. Beyond it, muffled market noise thudded through the metal. He pulled a second key from inside his sleeve.
Jesse grabbed his wrist. "You said there was no exit."
"I said there was no safe exit."
Valerie pressed the barrel of her pistol beneath his jaw. "Open it."
The dealer's lips trembled. "If I open this, every seller in Rust Market will know you're here."
"They already know," Jesse said. "The Board burned my safe house. Someone sold our route."
The dealer stared at him. "You still think this is about the deck."
"You keep staring at it."
"I'm staring at what it unlocks."
Valerie's pistol pressed harder. "Explain."
The dealer looked at her, then at Jesse. His face had gone gray beneath the grime.
"The Wraith Deck isn't just a weapon," he said. "It's a claim ticket."
Jesse pulled him closer. "For what?"
"For the Sanctuary Card."
The words stopped the tunnel cold.
Jesse's grip tightened. "Don't say that name unless you know what it does."
"I know exactly what it does."
Valerie's gaze shifted to Jesse. "You told me the Sanctuary Card was a rumor."
"I told you I was looking for one."
"You told me your sister needed it."
"She does."
The dealer coughed into his fist. Red stained his knuckles.
Jesse noticed. "You're bleeding worse."
"I have minutes. Maybe less."
"Then spend them talking."
Valerie kept the gun under his jaw. "Who has the card?"
The dealer gave a weak laugh. "That's the wrong question."
Jesse slammed him against the ladder. "Try me again."
"You want to save your sister?"
"Say her name and I break your other arm."
Valerie's eyes flicked toward him. "Jesse."
"What?"
"Let him talk."
"He has been talking for ten minutes."
"Because you keep interrupting him."
"He likes the sound of his own voice."
"So do you."
The dealer's laugh turned into a wet cough. He gripped the ladder and nearly fell.
Valerie caught him by the coat and shoved him upright. "Open the hatch."
He entered the key code. The lock flashed red.
"Why isn't it opening?" she asked.
"The market is on lockdown."
"Override it."
"I need a Board seal."
Valerie pulled a silver seal from her belt. The same kind used to authorize executions.
The dealer stared at it. "You still have clearance?"
"I have enough to put a bullet through your knee."
"That seal won't open this hatch."
"Why not?"
"Because your clearance was revoked three hours ago."
Valerie went very still.
Jesse looked at her. "You didn't tell me that."
"I didn't know."
"Your own system revoked you, and you didn't know?"
"Keep talking and I will revoke your teeth."
The dealer leaned toward the hatch. "The Board didn't revoke her clearance. They erased her identity."
Valerie's fingers tightened around the pistol.
"Who did it?" she asked.
"The same people who changed Vance's execution order."
Jesse stepped closer. "My order said immediate termination. Yours said capture. Why change them?"
The dealer's eyes moved between them. "Because they needed both signatures alive long enough to open the vault."
Valerie's mouth parted slightly.
Jesse felt the tether tug beneath his ribs.
"What vault?" he asked.
The dealer shook his head. "Not here. Open the hatch first."
"You don't get to give orders."
"You need the market. The market needs the auction. The auction needs the Blood Circuit."
Jesse stared at him. "What the hell is the Blood Circuit?"
The dealer's smile was small and sick. "You really don't know."
Valerie pulled him away from the hatch. "Tell us."
"A public death match. Eight fighters enter. One card leaves. The winner gets the prize."
Jax groaned from the tunnel wall. "That's not an auction."
"It is when the bidders pay in blood."
"And the prize?" Jesse asked.
The dealer's gaze dropped to the Wraith Deck.
Jesse shoved him again. "Do not look at me like that."
"The prize is not your deck."
"Then what is it?"
The dealer coughed. More blood spilled across his lips.
Valerie leaned closer. "You have ten seconds."
"Your sister's cure."
Jesse's hand closed into a fist.
The black fire on his knuckles came alive.
The dealer froze. "Don't."
"You just lied to me."
"I didn't."
"You said the Sanctuary Card was a rumor."
"I said the market needs the auction. I never said the card wasn't real."
Valerie stepped between them. Her shoulder pressed against Jesse's chest. "Jesse, don't burn him."
He looked down at her. Her face was inches from his. Her hand came up and pressed flat against his sternum, right over the pulsing deck.
The contact steadied the fire.
It also made his breath catch.
"Move," he said.
"No."
"Valerie."
"You kill him, we lose the only person who knows how to get inside."
"He knows where the card is."
"Then make him keep breathing."
The dealer watched their hands. "The tether is stronger than they said."
Valerie's eyes snapped toward him. "What did you just say?"
"Nothing."
"You said stronger. Stronger than what?"
The dealer backed toward the hatch. "You should ask who wrote your mission file."
Jesse caught him by the throat of his coat. Soul-fire danced across his knuckles, black and red, licking toward the dealer's face without touching it.
"You have one chance," Jesse said. "Tell me where the Sanctuary Card is."
"I can't."
"You can."
"If I say it, they kill me."
"If you don't, I do."
"You're already dead, Vance."
Jesse slammed him backward.
The dealer's spine hit the wall beside the hatch. Broken glass from an old inspection window shattered under his shoulders. One jagged piece pressed against his coat.
Valerie grabbed Jesse's forearm. "Stop."
"He knows about my sister."
"And you want him alive."
"I want the truth."
"Then don't turn his skull into another locked door."
Jesse's fire crawled over his fist. The dealer's eyes fixed on it.
"You think the deck will save her?" the dealer wheezed. "It only eats what it defeats. It doesn't heal."
"The Sanctuary Card does."
"The Sanctuary Card can restore a soul core. One time. One person."
"Where is it?"
The dealer smiled through blood. "You won't like the answer."
"I don't need to like it."
"Tonight."
Valerie's hand tightened on Jesse's arm. "Tonight what?"
The dealer's eyes shifted to the hatch as heavy footsteps thundered above them.
Jax pushed off the wall. "Someone's already on the street."
"The market patrol," the dealer said. "They'll open this hatch in seconds."
Valerie raised her pistol toward the ceiling. "Talk."
The dealer swallowed. "The Sanctuary Card is the grand prize."
Jesse's fire burned brighter. "Where?"
"In the Blood Circuit."
"Where is the Circuit?"
"Under the old exchange. They built an arena beneath the market. The bidders watch from behind glass. The fighters don't leave until one of them—"
A heavy impact shook the hatch.
The dealer flinched.
Valerie stepped closer to Jesse, her back against his chest now. Her shoulder brushed his jaw. "Finish that sentence."
"Only one fighter leaves," the dealer whispered.
Jesse looked at Valerie over the dealer's shoulder. "Then we go in."
"You can barely stand."
"I can stand long enough to win."
"Your soul integrity is nine percent."
"You keeping score because you care?"
"I'm keeping score because if you drop to zero, I drop with you."
"Then stay close."
Her gaze held his for a beat too long. "I have no intention of letting you out of my sight."
The hatch above them buckled inward.
Jax raised his wrench. "That sounds romantic, but we have a problem."
"You have many problems," Valerie said.
"This one is armed."
The dealer pressed both hands to the wall. "Wait. You don't understand the entry rule."
Jesse turned on him. "What rule?"
"The Circuit doesn't accept teams."
Valerie's eyes hardened. "Then we enter separately."
"No."
"No?" Jesse said.
"The Wraith Deck's resonance signature is already registered. The moment Vance steps into the arena, the system will mark him as the target."
"That sounds manageable."
"It isn't. The prize isn't awarded for winning. It's awarded for surviving the audience vote."
"What audience?"
The dealer's smile turned desperate. "Every syndicate in Port Rust. Every Board representative. Every bounty hunter who wants to watch the city's most wanted man bleed."
The hatch buckled again.
A red targeting dot appeared on the dealer's chest through the metal seam.
Valerie saw it first. "Down!"
She dragged Jesse sideways.
A rifle round punched through the hatch and struck the dealer in the upper chest. He jerked against Jesse's grip. Blood splashed over Jesse's sleeve.
Jax fired upward through the hatch. Someone shouted.
The dealer sagged, but Jesse kept him pinned against the broken glass. Soul-fire danced across Jesse's knuckles, bright enough to paint the dealer's terrified face red.
"Stay awake," Jesse snarled. "You don't get to die before you finish."
The dealer coughed blood onto Jesse's hand.
"Your sister's cure," he whispered. "The Sanctuary Card."
Valerie pressed her body close to Jesse's side and aimed at the hatch. "Say it."
The dealer's eyes rolled toward her.
"It's the grand prize," he wheezed, "in tonight's Blood Circuit."
Jesse went still.
Above them, more rifles clicked into firing position.
The dealer grabbed Jesse's coat with his last strength. "And the Circuit already has its first target."
A red targeting dot slid from the dealer's chest, crossed Jesse's shoulder, and settled against the back of his head.
Valerie's breath caught against his neck.
The dealer smiled through the blood on his lips. "They put your name on the board before you even arrived."
Valerie lifted her pistol toward the hatch, but the dealer whispered one final word.
"Vance... if you enter that arena, the only way to win the Sanctuary Card is to—"