Chapter 16 · Damage Reversal

"Get out of my head!" Vesper slammed me into the jammer housing, and the metal shell cracked behind my spine.

"Gladly," I said, trying to breathe past the pressure in my chest. "Tell your nervous system to stop chewing on mine."

Her forearm pressed harder against my throat. Her face was inches from mine, pale under the red emergency lights, silver hair stuck to her cheek with sweat. The jammer pulsed between us, a black fist of stolen tech wired into the dead captain's command rig.

Every pulse hit my skull like a hammer.

Vesper's fingers tightened. "You did this."

"I didn't build the damn thing."

"You touched it."

"And now your hand is shaking. So maybe move before you break my neck and take your own brain with it."

Her eyes narrowed. The green lines under her skin flashed once, then jumped into my vision.

WARNING: NEURAL FEEDBACK CASCADE. TARGET: VESPER CROFT. DAMAGE SOURCE: REX VANE.

I blinked hard. The words stayed there.

"Rex." Her voice dropped. Not soft. Dangerous. "What did you see?"

"Your system just marked you as my damage."

"That's not possible."

"Then why are you bleeding from the nose?"

She swiped at her upper lip.