Chapter 7 · Syncing the Death Line

"Don't move another inch or I'll let this blade find out if your spine is as flexible as your morals," Lilith hissed, her voice a low vibration against my ear.

I froze. The cold edge of her combat knife was pressing right into the soft skin of my throat, just enough to leave a mark. She had me pinned against the rusted bulkhead of the transit tunnel, her body flushed against mine. I could feel the heat radiating off her, smelling like ozone and expensive gunpowder.

"You're shaking," she whispered, a smirk evident in her tone. "Is the big, bad ghost-hacker actually scared?"

"I'm not shaking. I'm calculating," I spat, though my heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. "And my calculations say you're too close to me for your own good."

She laughed, a sharp, dangerous sound. She didn't pull away. Instead, she pressed closer, her thigh sliding between mine, locking me in place. The power dynamic was skewed, and we both knew it. She had the blade; I had the code. But right now, the code was useless if my windpipe got sliced.

"Calculations, huh?" She shifted the knife slightly, the metal biting deeper.