"You don't sit at my table unless you can pay." The knife hit the wood an inch from my fingers before my ass even hit the stool.
I yanked my hand back. "Whoa. Okay. Hi to you too."
"Pay or bleed," Bram said. He didn't even look up. Big guy, scar splitting his left eyebrow, sleeves shoved to his elbows, cleaning a pistol like we were boring him. "No credit. No stories. No strays."
Selene shoved me forward, palm hot between my shoulder blades. "He's with me."
Bram finally looked. His eyes flicked from her face to me and back. "That's worse. You know the price for bringing a stray in here, Voss."
"Put the knife away, Bram," she said. Her voice was flat. Cold. "We need a gate ticket."
"You need a lot of things." He yanked the knife free. "Like a miracle. And I don't sell those cheap."
The market pressed in around us. Low ceiling, buzzing lights, tables made of crates and sheet metal. Smelled like fried oil and gun cleaner and sweat. People shouting prices, scanning loot with those glowy sigils on their wrists. Everyone had one. Except me. Well, except I did now, but mine was glitchy and trying to kill me.
I leaned on his table like I owned it. Bluff time. "You know who I am?"
Bram snorted. "No. And I don't care."
"You should," I said. "I'm the guy who walked out of the Red Maw last night. With her. Alive."
That got a few heads to turn. Selene went rigid next to me.
"Milo," she muttered, "shut up."
"What? It's true," I said. "Ask her. She carried me. Very romantic. Very forced proximity."
"I dragged you," she said through her teeth. "And I will leave you here."
Bram stared at me. Then at Selene. "Red Maw? Bullshit."
"Check the bounty board," I said. I had no idea if there was a bounty board. But it sounded like there should be. "Glitch Sigil. Alive. Ten times payout. Remember that?"
His hand stopped on the pistol. Just for a second. "Who told you that?"
Selene's fingers dug into my arm. Hard. Warning. "He doesn't know what he's saying. He's new. He's an idiot."
"I'm an idiot who survived," I said. "So. Gate ticket. How much?"
Bram leaned back. He smiled, but it wasn't nice. "For you? Can't afford it. For her? Maybe. If she leaves you as collateral."
"Not happening," Selene said instantly.
"Wow, you do care," I said to her.
"I need you breathing for the pact," she snapped. "Don't flatter yourself."
The pact. Right. The burn on my wrist throbbed under my sleeve. Her sigil tied to mine. Two lives, one leash. She couldn't ditch me even if she wanted to.
Bram saw the look. He laughed. "Oh. You bound him? Selene Voss bound a stray? God, you are desperate."
"We need to get to the lower archipelago," she said. She kept her voice low. "Before the Council locks the gates. Name your price."
"Gates are already locked," Bram said. "Council order. No one in or out without a writ. You know that."
"Then get us a writ," she said.
"With what money?" He spread his hands. "You got wiped on the last run. I heard. Whole squad. And now you're babysitting debt-bait?"
I felt my face get hot. "Hey. Debt-bait has a name."
"Debt-bait has a mouth," Bram said. "And debt. How much you owe back home, kid? Couple grand? Let me guess. You think you're going back to pay it."
That hit weird. "What?"
Selene didn't look at me. "Bram."
"Tell him," Bram said. He was enjoying this. "Tell him how the gate works. Tell him there is no 'back home.'"
"There's a gate," I said. My throat went dry. "You just said— writ, ticket—"
"A gate to the next island," Bram said. "Not to Earth. Earth doesn't have a gate. Earth has a hole that spits out trash like you and then closes. One way. You didn't read the fine print when you fell through the floor, did you?"
I looked at Selene. "Is he lying?"
Her jaw was tight. Her eyes finally met mine. And I knew. She'd known the whole time.
"Selene," I said. "Hey. Is he lying?"
"No," she said. Quiet. "There's no ticket back. Not for you. Not for anyone at your rank."
The market noise got louder and then weirdly muffled. Like my ears popped.
"You knew," I said. "Last night, you— you let me think—"
"I let you think you'd live till morning," she said. "That was the priority."
"Great. Cool. So I'm stuck here forever?" My voice cracked up. I hated that. "Thanks for the heads up! Really great babysitting!"
"You want me to lie to you?" She stepped closer. She smelled like cold air and gunpowder. Her hand grabbed my sleeve, not gentle. "You want comfort or you want to live? Pick one."
"I want both!" I said. "Is that too much to ask?"
Bram watched us like we were a show. "Lovers' quarrel. Cute. You done? Because I got customers who actually pay."
"We have loot," Selene said. She pulled a pouch from her belt and dumped it on the table. Crystals, teeth, a black shard that hummed. "Grade-two Maw fang. Raw. Uncut. That's half a writ."
Bram picked up the fang. Turned it over. "Half. Maybe a third, the way the market's crashing. Council's buying up everything for the cull."
"It's clean," she said. "No rot."
"It's still half," he said. He looked at me. "What's he got?"
"Nothing," Selene said fast. Too fast.
"I got charm," I said. "And wit. And—"
"Show me your wrist," Bram said to me.
My stomach dropped. "Why?"
"Because you're twitching like it hurts," he said. His eyes narrowed. "And because she bound a nobody. Which means you're not a nobody. So show me."
"Don't," Selene said to me. Low and sharp.
I hesitated. The burn under my sleeve pulsed. Hotter now. The Sigil had been quiet all morning, now it was buzzing like a phone on vibrate.
Bram moved fast. Faster than a guy his size should. He grabbed my wrist and shoved my sleeve up.
The Sigil lit up. Bright white, then glitching red. Lines crawling like code, like veins. It burned.
"Ah— shit! Let go!" I tried to pull back. He held tight.
Selene grabbed his arm. "Bram, let him go!"
Bram didn't let go. His face went white. "Oh, you stupid kids."
"What? What is it?" I said. My whole forearm was on fire.
"You're dead," he whispered. He stared at the light. "You're already dead. They're already here."
"Who's here?" Selene said. Her hand went to her blade.
Boots. Heavy. Multiple pairs. Hitting the metal floor at the market entrance. Shouting. Someone yelled, "Clear the aisle! Council writ!"
Bram shoved my arm down and killed the light with his palm. "Down. Both of you. Now."
"We had a deal!" Selene hissed.
"Deal's dead if they scan him!" Bram hissed back. He yanked me down behind the crates. Selene dropped with us, her shoulder slamming into mine, her breath hot on my cheek. Too close. Way too close.
"Don't breathe," she whispered. Her hand found mine under the table and squeezed. Hard. Her pulse was hammering.
"You could've warned me about the no-going-home thing," I whispered back.
"You could've kept your mouth shut," she whispered. Her eyes were inches from mine. Angry and scared.
Bram peeked over the crate. "They've got a hound," he breathed. "Sigil hound. It'll sniff the glitch."
"So what do we do?" I said.
"You? You pray it doesn't like you," Bram said. He looked at me, and his face was serious for the first time. "And you— you keep that thing dark, or I cut your hand off myself. Understand?"
The boots got louder. Closer. A shadow fell over our table.
"Bram Holtz," a voice barked. Cold, official. "We have a warrant scan. Step away from the table. Hands visible."
Bram slowly raised his hands. He mouthed at us, stay down.
The voice came again, right above us. "We know you're hiding a glitch. Sigil reads spiking. Bring him out and we only take him. Hide him and we take the whole market."
Selene's grip on my hand tightened until it hurt. Her leg pressed against mine. She leaned in, her lips barely a breath from my ear.
"If they see it, they shoot," she whispered. "So don't—"
A boot kicked the crate in front of us. It scraped an inch. Light cut through the gap.
"Last chance, Holtz," the voice said. "Where is he?"