Chapter 6 · Neon Hell Dive

"Move your ass, Kane. If we hit that scanner with your signature leaking, we're both dead before the beat drops."

Evelyn didn't look back as she shoved the heavy steel door open. The noise of the Velvet Abyss hit me like a physical blow—bass so deep it rattled my teeth and neon lights that bled purple and acid green across the crowded floor. This wasn't a club; it was a meat market for the elite and the damned.

I stepped in, my boots clicking on the polished obsidian floor. My chest felt tight. The Forbidden Card was humming under my skin, a low-frequency vibration that felt like a warning.

"I can handle a scanner," I muttered, stepping closer to her.

She spun around, her hand snapping up to grab my collar. She yanked me into the shadow of a massive neon pillar, her face inches from mine. I could smell her perfume—something sharp, like citrus and expensive gunpowder. Her eyes searched mine, fierce and panicked.

"You don't get it," she hissed. "Marcus didn't just install scanners. He installed soul-sifters. They don't just check if you're alive; they check who you've stolen from.