Chapter 23 · Juno's Price

Juno's clinic smells like burnt plastic and old blood. The kind of smell that makes you want to hold your breath, but you can't because you're already running on fumes.

Mara kicks the back door open. Lia's weight drags on her shoulders. Kade's right behind her, one hand pressed to his chest like he can hold the red glow in.

"Juno!" Mara's voice cracks. "I need the full kit. Now."

The clinic's dark except for the exam light over the center table. Juno's standing there with her arms crossed, wearing the same ratty surgical scrubs she always does. Her face is calm. Too calm.

"You brought him here." Juno doesn't move. "After I said don't."

Mara sets Lia down on the nearest chair. Her sister's head lolls to the side. Those gray-white eyes are half-open, staring at nothing.

"I don't have time for this," Mara says. "Kade's got maybe two hours before that thing in his chest lights up every combat unit in Neon Harbor. I need the unlock needle. The real one, not the knockoff you sold to the Southside crew."

Kade steps into the light. The red glow under his shirt pulses with his heartbeat. Steady. Too steady.