Chapter 16 · The Ghost's Invite

"Don't move another inch, Kai. I mean it."

Cold steel pressed against the side of my neck. Lilith didn't just have a knife; she had the kind of edge that could slice through a neural link without leaving a scar. She was breathing right against my ear, her scent—something like expensive ozone and burnt sugar—filling my head as she crowded me into the corner of the safehouse.

"Since when did we start the morning with a blade to the throat?" I asked. I didn't move. Moving meant bleeding.

"Since you decided to start digging into files that don't belong to you," she whispered. Her voice was a low purr, dangerous and steady. "Who are you really working for? Because the 'ghost' act is getting old. Nobody wipes their own identity this clean unless they're hiding something that could burn this city to the ground."

I could feel the slight tremor in her hand. Not fear. Anticipation. She wanted me to crack. She wanted the truth, and she was willing to carve it out of me if she had to.

"I told you, I don't remember," I said, my voice rasping. "The Reaper Plugin is the only thing that knows.