Chapter 8 · Neural Breach

"Get behind me!" Vala slammed me into the side of the cargo lift as three pulse rounds tore through the wall where my head had been.

My shoulder hit metal. Her body covered mine for half a second, hard armor pressing against my chest, her breath hot against my jaw.

Then she shoved away and raised her pistol.

"You said the tunnel was clean," I snapped.

"It was clean." She fired twice. "Then your friends sold our route."

"They're not my friends."

"You keep saying that like it makes the bodies less dead."

Another round cracked past us. Blue light flashed across the lift shaft.

Vala grabbed my collar and dragged me lower. Her fingers locked into the fabric. Not gentle. Not even close.

"Listen to me, Kai. The link in your skull is open."

"I know. It keeps whispering."

"No. It is doing more than whispering."

A black shape crawled across the wall behind her. It had too many joints and no face. The Void had been showing me things like that since the deal in the server vault. Usually, I could force the images away.

This one moved when Vala moved.

I stared at it.

"You see that?"