Chapter 15 · Neon Shadows

"Get your head down or lose it!" Echo's voice screamed inside my skull, a jagged spike of static that nearly knocked me sideways.

I didn't have time to argue. I slammed my back against a rusted coolant pipe, the metal screeching under my weight. A burst of plasma fire tore through the air where my head had been a second ago, melting the wall into a bubbling, glowing mess.

"I can't see them!" I yelled, my voice sounding raw, even to me. I pressed my palm against the wall, feeling the vibration of heavy boots echoing through the floor.

"Because you're looking with eyes, Vera. Use the link," Echo snapped. I felt him push—not a suggestion, but a forceful shove into my optic nerve. Suddenly, the world shifted. The gray concrete turned into a wireframe of heat signatures and data streams. Three red dots. Closing in. Fast.

"Three of them," I breathed, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. "Wait, there's a fourth. Higher up. In the vents."

"Sharp. I'll give you that," Echo murmured.