She drove her elbow into my side.
My grip broke. She spun under my arm and kicked the pistol across the floor. I grabbed for it, but her boot landed on my hand.
The sole pressed down.
Pain flashed white.
"Move," she said, "and I break the fingers you use to write code."
"You keep threatening body parts. Get creative."
"Fine. I'll break your eyes. Then you can guess what the plugin is showing you."
Her free hand came up, palm open.
A thin red line appeared across my vision.
[WARNING: FOREIGN ADMINISTRATOR REQUEST] [ACCEPT? Y/N]
I stared at the prompt.
Lilith's gaze sharpened. "Accept it."
"No."
"Accept it, Kai."
"You put a command in my head?"
"A temporary stabilizer."
"That's not what it says."
"You can read system language?"
"I can read yours."
She stepped closer, still pinning my hand. Her knee held my thigh in place. The pressure was steady, deliberate. No wasted movement.
"Then read carefully," she said. "If you reject the command, the plugin burns out. You have maybe forty seconds before your heart starts missing beats."
"And if I accept?"
"You live."
"What do you get?"
"Control."
At least she didn't lie.
The prompt pulsed red.
[ACCEPT? Y/N]
Outside, someone shouted through the door.
"Vale! Step away from the ghost! Corporate Recovery has authority to terminate!"
Lilith's eyes went cold.
"They came fast," I said.
"They were waiting for you."
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"And you still dragged me here?"
"You ran here."
"You left the door open."
"I wanted to see if you were stupid enough to take the bait."
"And?"
"The jury's still out."
The prompt pulsed again.
My fingers tingled. The system was losing power. The red line across my vision spread into jagged branches.
Lilith bent until her mouth was close to my ear.
"Say yes."
"Say please."
Her hand slid from my jaw to the back of my neck. She didn't squeeze. She didn't have to. Her thumb rested over the pulse there, counting every beat.
"You're in no position to negotiate."
"Everyone's in a position to negotiate. You just have to find the thing they can't afford to lose."
Her thumb stopped.
I looked at the damaged signal near her temple.
"You want the Reaper because it can see the control link in your head."
Lilith's face went still.
"Don't."
"That red line isn't a system reflection. Someone owns a piece of you."
"I said don't."
"You don't need a stabilizer. You need the leash cut."
Her grip tightened.
The door took another hit. The frame split. A black armored hand pushed through the gap.
Lilith glanced at it once.
I smiled through the pain in my hand.
"There it is. Your problem."
"You think you found my weakness?"
"I think you brought me here because you can't remove that signal yourself."
"I can remove anything."
"Then remove it."
She didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
I shifted my weight and drove my heel into her ankle. Her boot slipped. I tore my hand free, rolled across the floor, and grabbed the pistol before she could reach it.
The security door burst inward.
Three armored hunters flooded the room.
Their rifles tracked toward me.
Lilith moved faster.
She stepped between us.
"Lower your weapons," she ordered.
The lead hunter raised his rifle. "Lady Vale, your contract doesn't cover interference with Recovery."
"My contract covers everything in this district."
"Not him."
"He's mine."
The words hit harder than they should have.
The hunter's visor turned toward me. "The ghost belongs to Viktor's division."
Lilith's hand slid behind her coat.
"Tell Viktor he can file a complaint."
"He already did."
The hunter aimed at her head.
I fired first.
The shot cracked through the room. The hunter's rifle spun away, its barrel smoking. Lilith dropped low, swept the legs of the second hunter, and drove a blade into the seam of his armor.
The third fired at me.
I saw the bullet before it moved.
Not because I was faster.
Because the Reaper showed me the line.
I threw myself sideways. The round tore through my sleeve. I hit the floor, rolled, and jammed my palm against the hunter's helmet.
The plugin surged.
[DEATH CLOCK ACQUIRED] [00:03]
"What did you do?" Lilith snapped.
"Bought us a second."
[00:02]
The hunter tried to lift his weapon.
[00:01]
His visor filled with red warning text. He froze.
[00:00]
The armor went limp.
I ripped my hand away. The Reaper shrieked inside my skull, hungry and bright. For one perfect second, every line of code in the room opened to me.
Then my legs gave out.
Lilith caught me by the collar before my face hit the floor.
"You're welcome," I muttered.
"You just killed a Recovery operative with a touch."
"He was aiming at me."
"That doesn't make it less useful."
She dragged me behind the overturned table while the first hunter groaned. Her hand stayed on my jacket, knuckles brushing my chest each time she pulled.
The room had become too small. Too hot. Her face was inches from mine when she stopped.
"Look at me," she said.
"I am."
"No jokes."
"Then stop making it easy."
Her fingers closed around my chin.
"You don't know what you just activated."
"Neither do you."
"I know enough to put you down before it takes over."
"You won't."
"Why?"
"Because you need me."
Her eyes dropped to the pulse at my throat. Her thumb followed it once, slow enough that I felt every bit of pressure.
"You're confident for a man whose body is failing."
"I'm observant."
"You're a liability."
"And you're scared."
The corner of her mouth tightened.
I had found the second crack.
She reached under her collar and pulled out a thin silver connector. A black line ran from it toward the damaged signal at her temple. The wire trembled against her skin.
"This link belongs to my father," she said.
It was the first honest thing she'd given me.
"Viktor?"
"Don't say his name like you know him."