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"Get this thing out of me before your friends reach the stairs." Vesper drove her shoulder into the service-room door and snapped the lock shut just as something heavy slammed into the other side.
The metal buckled inward.
I grabbed her by the back of her coat and yanked her away from it. "Those aren't my friends."
"I know exactly whose boots those are." She spun, caught my wrist, and twisted until my knees hit the floor. Her combat knife flashed under my chin. "Corporate kill team. Six soldiers. One crawler drone. Maybe Boris."
The neural tether between us gave a hard pull.
Pain shot through my skull. Vesper flinched at the same time, her knife dipping half an inch.
I smiled through clenched teeth. "Cute. We both felt that."
"Don't smile at me."
"Then stop standing so close."
Her breath touched my mouth. Hot. Sharp with blood and burned plastic. The knife stayed under my jaw, but her eyes dropped to my lips for one stupid second.
I noticed.
She noticed me noticing.
Her grip tightened. "You want to lose the other eye?"
"You want to keep yours?"
Another impact hit the door. Dust shook loose from the ceiling. A red warning strip blinked across the cracked wall panel.
Vesper looked at the cable of pale blue light running from my chest to the black implant at the base of her neck. "The tether is still active."
"No kidding."
"The emergency lock fused during the combat sync."
"You said you could cut it."
"I said I could try."
"That's not what you said when you put a gun in my face."
"I was trying to keep you from running."
"You shot me."
"You were running."
"That makes it better?"
She leaned closer, the edge of the blade pressing my skin. "If I wanted better, I would've brought a medic."
The door shrieked. Something punched through the metal, and a black mechanical claw hooked the frame.
Vesper released me and shoved me toward the back of the room. "Move."
"Where? The wall?"
"There’s an access shaft behind the storage rack."
"And you didn't mention it because?"
"Because you were busy trying to kill me."
"You started that."
"You stole the core."
"It was trash."
Her stare could have cut steel. "It was military property."
"It was sitting in a dead man's gut sack under a pile of coolant drums. Nobody wanted it."
"Director Kaelen wants it."
That name landed harder than the door hit.
Vesper saw it. Her eyes narrowed. "You know him."
"Everybody in Sector Zero knows him. He owns the factories that strip our blocks for parts."
"That isn't an answer."
"Neither was shooting me."
She crossed the room in three quick steps and slammed me against the wall. Her forearm pressed across my chest. The tether pulled tight between us, bright enough to paint her jaw blue.
"Listen carefully, scavenger," she said. "If they take you, they'll cut the core out while you're awake. If they take me, they'll use my implant to trace it. Either way, we die. You want to argue? Do it quietly."
The way she said die made it sound like a contract, not a threat.
I looked down at her hand on my chest. Her glove was torn across the knuckles. Under it, her fingers shook once before she hid it.
"You’re scared," I said.
"I'm calculating."
"Your hand disagrees."
She shoved harder. "Your pulse is in my teeth. Don't talk to me about hands."
The next hit blew the lock apart.
Vesper turned, pulling me with her. We crashed behind the storage rack as the door folded inward. A drone rolled through the opening, its sensor eye sweeping the room.
"Down," she whispered.
"You first."
She elbowed me in the ribs.
I bit back a curse and caught the drone's sensor with my left hand. The new bio-eye in my skull lit up without permission. A stream of red lines crawled across my vision.
TARGET: CORPORATE TRACKER UNIT.
A second prompt opened beneath it.
DEVOUR?
I clenched my jaw. "Not now."
Vesper's gaze snapped to me. "What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"You talked to the core."
"Maybe it talks in its sleep."
The drone chirped. Its metal jaw split open.
Vesper shoved me flat and fired twice over my shoulder. The shots punched through the sensor. The drone dropped, twitching, a thin line of smoke curling from its shell.
Boots thundered outside.
"How many bullets?" I asked.
"Four."
"How many people?"
"Six."
"Great math."
"Do you have a better plan?"
"I have a terrible plan."
"Those are usually your best ones."
I pointed at the rear wall. "That shaft."
"It’s too narrow."
"You fit."
"You’re coming with me."
"Forced proximity. How romantic."
Her mouth tightened, but the corner almost moved. Almost.
She kicked the storage rack aside. Behind it, a rusted maintenance hatch sat low in the wall. Vesper dropped to one knee and jammed her knife into the seam.
The door behind us burst open.
A corporate soldier stepped through with a pulse rifle raised.
I grabbed Vesper around the waist and pulled her backward. The tether snapped tight. Her body hit mine, warm through two layers of armor, and the rifle discharged over our heads.
The shot scorched the wall.
"You could've warned me," she hissed.
"You were busy opening the door."
"I had it."
"Sure you did."
She twisted in my grip and drove the butt of her pistol into the soldier's throat. He staggered. I slammed my palm into his chest and let the core push through my arm.
Blue-black lines spread across his armor. His weapon died first. Then his knees folded.
The system flashed again.
DEVOUR?
"No," I growled.
Vesper stared at the soldier. "You shut it down."
"I told it no."
"It listened?"
"Sometimes."
"That thing doesn't listen. It feeds."
"Then tell it to eat the kill team instead of me."
Another soldier fired from the doorway. Vesper pulled me down by the collar. The pulse round tore through the wall where my head had been.
"Get in the shaft!" she snapped.
"You first."
"Rex—"
My name sounded wrong in her mouth. Too close. Too familiar.
She shoved the hatch open and crawled inside. I followed, forcing my shoulders through the narrow metal throat. The space smelled like grease, old wiring, and Vesper's blood.
Her boot kicked backward and caught my chest. "Stop breathing on me."
"Your coat is in my face."
"Then move faster."
"You want me to crawl through your spine?"
"Keep talking and I'll make room by breaking your nose."
The tether dragged between us every time one of us moved. When she crawled forward, my ribs pulled tight. When I shifted, her neck jerked as if an invisible hand had grabbed it.
Behind us, rifles hammered the hatch.
Vesper reached a junction and stopped.
I bumped into her back. "Why are we stopping?"
"Because the shaft splits."
"Which way?"
"Left leads to the flood tunnels. Right leads to the old lift."
"And the safe way?"
"There isn't one."
"You say that like it’s supposed to calm me down."
She turned as far as the narrow space allowed. Her face was inches from mine. A strand of dark hair clung to the cut near her temple.
"You want the truth?" she whispered. "The tether isn't a cable. It's a shared failsafe. If either body stops, the other follows. Cutting mine may stop your heart. Cutting yours may cook my brain."
"You found that out when?"
"When you tried to rip the core out of your chest."
"That was before you tackled me."
"That was after you stabbed two of my people."
"They were going to put me in a bag."
"They were following orders."
"So are you."
Her eyes went flat. "Not anymore."
The admission sat between us, hotter than the cramped metal.
I lowered my voice. "Then why are you still wearing their mark?"
She glanced at the silver corporate insignia on her collar. Her fingers closed around it.
"Because it opens doors."
"And locks throats."
"You really don't know when to shut up."
"You really don't know when to tell the truth."
The soldiers reached the hatch. Metal screamed behind us.
Vesper swore and turned toward the right passage.
I caught her wrist. "Why right?"
"The lift shaft has a second exit."
"You said it was old."
"It is."
"Will it hold?"
"No idea."
"Fantastic."
She yanked free. "You want to stay here and let them carve us apart?"
"No. I want you to admit you need me."
Her face came close again. The tether pulsed between our skin, throwing blue light across her cheekbones.
"I need the core," she said.
"That's not what I asked."
"I need your legs to carry us. Happy?"
"Almost."
"Move."
We crawled right.
The passage dropped into a vertical shaft. Vesper climbed down first, gripping an old ladder bolted into the wall. I followed, one hand on the rungs and one locked around the tether port at my chest.
Every step sent a dull shock through both of us.
Halfway down, Vesper slipped.
I caught her ankle.
She looked up. "Don't let go."
"Wasn't planning to."
"You let go, I drag you with me."
"There’s the gratitude."
Her boot found the next rung. "I said don't let go."
I held tighter.
The shaft opened into an old service platform. Vesper rolled off the ladder and landed hard. I dropped beside her, shoulder first.
She was already moving. She pulled a small metal case from the inside of her coat and snapped it open.
Inside waited a black combat knife, a silver injector, and three thin tracer rods glowing red at the tips.
I pointed at the rods. "Those are tracking beacons."
"Two are."
"And the third?"
"A neural anchor."
"You planted it in me?"
"I planted it in the core."
"Same difference."
"No. If it were in you, I'd have to cut through bone."
She said it too calmly.
I stared at her. "You know, most women wait until the second date before threatening surgery."
"Most women don't hunt illegal bio-cores for a living."
"You don't date, do you?"
"I execute people who ask questions like that."
"So that's a no."
The tether spasmed.
Vesper dropped the anchor. Her hand flew to the side of her head.
I felt the pain hit a beat later. A hot spike drilled behind my bio-eye. My vision split into three red copies of her.
"What the hell was that?" I asked.
"They found the lower shaft."
"How?"
"The anchor is broadcasting."
"Then cut it."
"I can’t."
"You just said you could cut anything."
"I said no such thing."
She snatched up the knife.
I caught her arm. "Vesper. What are you doing?"
"Removing the tracer."
"From where?"
She pressed two fingers against the metal implant at the base of her skull. "Here."
I looked at the blade, then at her face. "You can't be serious."
"Hold my head still."
"No."
"Rex."
"No. There has to be another way."
"There isn’t. You want them to track us into the tunnels?"
"I want you alive."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Vesper went still.
Her fingers rested against my wrist. Her skin was warm. Her pulse kicked beneath my thumb, fast and hard.
"That was almost sweet," she said.
"Don't get used to it."
"I won't."
She guided my hand to the back of her neck. "Hold me."
My palm settled against her skin above the collar. The tether hummed under our touch. Her hair brushed my knuckles.
"If you move," she said, "I miss the tracer."
"If you miss, I’m blaming you."
"If I miss, we both die."
"You really know how to make a guy feel special."
She set the knife tip against the implant.
"Look at me," I said.
"Why?"
"So you don't look down."
"I don't scare that easily."
"I know. That's the problem."
Her eyes locked on mine.
Then she pushed the knife in.
Vesper's breath broke. Her fingers crushed my sleeve, but she didn't scream. The blade worked under the implant with tiny, brutal movements. A thin curl of smoke rose from the back of her neck.
I felt every cut as pressure behind my eye.
"Talk," she said through her teeth.
"About what?"
"Anything. Keep me focused."
"You threatened to kill me six times today."
"Seven."
"Right. Seven. You also shot me twice."
"You healed."
"My pants didn't."
Her mouth twitched despite the pain. "You care about your pants?"
"They were stolen from a dead courier. Good fabric."
"You're disgusting."
"You're holding a knife in your own skull. Who's disgusting now?"
"Keep talking."
"Fine. You have a terrible bedside manner. Your coat is ugly. Your aim is—"
She pulled the blade free.
A red tracer rod dropped into her palm.
For half a second, neither of us moved.
Then the tether snapped tight.
Vesper folded forward. I caught her before her face hit the platform. Her forehead struck my shoulder instead. Her breath shook against my neck.
"Got it," she whispered.
"You’re bleeding."
"So are you."
I touched the side of my face. My fingers came away red.
"I didn't cut you."
"Shared feedback."
"The tracer was in my implant too."
"No. It was in mine. Your core copied the signal."
I stared at the red rod in her hand. "Can we destroy it?"
"Yes."
She crushed it between two armored fingers.
The entire shaft lit up.
A siren screamed above us.
Vesper's expression changed. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
"You sure?"
"No."
The lift platform groaned beneath our boots. Ancient machinery woke under the floor, dragging cables through rusted gears.
I grabbed her arm. "You said the lift was dead."
"It was."
"Then why is it moving?"
She looked toward the ceiling.
A deep thud rolled through the shaft.
Another.
The kill team was coming down from above.
Vesper pulled me toward the back wall. "There’s a maintenance alcove."
"You keep finding secret holes."
"You keep complaining and following me."
"You like having me behind you."
She stopped so fast I ran into her.
Her back pressed to my chest. The tether drew us together, shoulder to shoulder, breath to breath.
"Say that again," she murmured.
"I said you like having me—"
She turned inside my arms and shoved a pistol under my ribs.
"Finish it."
The muzzle was cold through my shirt. Her body wasn't. Her knee touched mine. One hand remained curled in my coat, close enough to feel the heat of her palm.
"You want me to?" I asked.
"I want to know if you're stupid or suicidal."
"Could be both."
"That wasn't an answer."
"You keep asking dangerous questions."
"And you keep avoiding them."
The lift screamed below us. Sparks rained through the shaft.
I lowered my gaze to her mouth. "Maybe I don't want to answer with a gun between us."
Her grip on my coat tightened.
For one second, the soldiers above didn't matter. The sirens didn't matter. Her breath brushed mine, and the space between us narrowed until the tether felt less like a chain and more like a hand pulling us together.
Then she slapped me.
"Focus."
"That was unnecessary."
"It worked."
"Not really."
She shoved me into the alcove and followed, locking the narrow door behind us. We stood chest to chest in the dark, her pistol trapped between our bodies.
Heavy boots hit the platform outside.
A voice crackled through a helmet speaker. "Vesper Croft. Step away from the asset."
Vesper's eyes stayed on mine.
"They still call me theirs," she whispered.
"You still wearing their badge."
"You want me to take it off?"
"I want you to choose a side."
She leaned close enough that her lips nearly touched my ear. "I already did."
The door handle turned.
Vesper raised the pistol. I wrapped my hand around hers. The gun pressed against both of us, but neither of us pulled away.
"When it opens," she whispered, "you hit the first one."
"And you?"
"I kill the second."
"What about the rest?"
"We improvise."
"That's my line."
"Then try to keep up."
The door blew inward.
We moved together.
I drove my shoulder into the first soldier and sent him into the lift controls. Vesper fired past my ear. The muzzle flash burned white against my vision.
The tether jerked as the soldier's armor discharged an electric pulse. My knees buckled. Vesper caught my collar and hauled me upright.
"Stay with me!"
"Still here."
"Barely."
"You worried?"
"I’m annoyed."
"Your voice says worried."
She kicked a fallen rifle across the platform. "Your voice says shut up."
The remaining soldiers pushed through the doorway above. Their commander raised a launcher.
Vesper saw it first.
"Back wall!"
She grabbed my hand and ran.
We reached the far side of the platform just as the launcher fired. The round struck the wall behind us and burst into a white-hot spray.
Thermite chewed through steel.
The heat punched across my back. Vesper stumbled. I caught her around the waist and pulled her against me, turning my body between her and the burning wall.
"Rex, move!"
"Trying."
"You're in the way."
"You’re welcome."
The wall split open with a shriek.
Fire poured through the gap.
A huge silhouette stepped out of the flames, armor blackened, shoulders broad enough to fill the breach. A heavy weapon hung from one hand. The other carried a hooked blade dripping with molten metal.
The corporate soldiers stopped firing.
Vesper's face went pale against my shoulder.
"No," she breathed.
I tightened my grip on her. "You know him?"
The figure lifted his helmet. One mechanical eye burned orange beneath the scorched visor.
Vesper raised her pistol, but her hand shook now.
"Boris," she said.
The man smiled through the smoke.
"There you are, little executioner." He stepped onto the platform. "Director Kaelen said you might run. He didn't say you'd bring the stolen core straight to me."
Vesper pushed me behind her. "Stay back."
"You just told me to stay with you."
"This isn't a request."
Boris raised the heavy weapon.
The tether flared between us, bright and violent. My bio-eye flooded with red warnings. Vesper gasped and grabbed the side of her skull.
Boris looked from her to me.
"Oh," he said. "You two are connected. That's going to make this so much more fun."
Vesper's fingers found mine without looking. Her grip was tight enough to hurt.
"Rex," she whispered, "when I say run, don't—"
Boris took one step forward, and the platform groaned under his weight. His weapon unfolded with a hard mechanical click.
"Rex Vane," he said, lifting the barrel until it pointed straight at my face. "Let's see what the core made of you—"