Chapter 8 · Blood & Static

"Get your hand off that console or I will break it!" Sila's fingers locked around my wrist and slammed it down before I could touch the port.

Her blood was on my skin. Warm. Slick. Not mine.

"Let go," I snarled. "They're locked onto my signal. I can jam them. I can close the gate."

"You touch that thing and you die!" She shoved me back against the console, her other hand still holding her side. Her jacket was soaked dark at the ribs. "You think I don't know what overclocking does to scrap-tier brains? It cooks you!"

The whole bunker was shaking. Dust raining from the ceiling. Outside the east gate, the hounds were cutting through steel. You could hear it — that high-pitched whine of plasma cutters and boots hitting dirt.

"Sila, they're coming through because of me!" I tried to pull free. She didn't budge. Her grip was iron even while she was bleeding out. "The system flagged me as K-07. Viktor's dogs are following that tag. If I don't spoof the signal, everyone in this camp dies!"

"And if you fry yourself, what then?" She was breathing hard, right in my face.