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"Drop the case, Mara!" Knox Arden shouted from the other side of the security gate. "Hands where I can see them, or I put you down."
I ran anyway.
The stolen core slapped against my ribs inside its dead-black carrier. Behind me, boots hammered over the metal catwalk. Ahead, the exit gate was already sliding shut, leaving me maybe three feet of clearance and zero good choices.
"You really want to die over a box?" Knox yelled.
"It's not a box!" I threw myself at the gap.
His hand caught the back of my jacket.
The fabric snapped tight against my throat. My boots left the floor. I hit the gate hard enough to rattle my teeth, and the case flew from my grip. It skidded under the closing barrier.
Knox dragged me backward.
"Got you," he said, breath hot against my ear.
"Get your hand off me."
"You first. Stop fighting."
"You first. Stop chasing me."
He twisted my arm behind my back and locked a restraint around my wrist. The metal cuff flashed blue, then burned cold against my skin.
My other hand clawed for the emergency release on the gate.
Knox shoved me face-first against the bars. His chest pressed into my back, solid and warm through two layers of tactical armor. One of his knees pinned mine. The carrier sat just beyond the gate, close enough to see, too far to reach.
"You stole restricted city property," he said. "That gives me the right to break both your legs before transport."
"You officers always talk this much when you're scared?"
His grip tightened.
"I'm not scared of a low-tier courier."
"Then why are you shaking?"
He went still.
I smiled against the cold metal. "Yeah. Thought so."
"You don't know what you're holding."
"I know what it pays."
"It won't pay for your brother's treatment."
My smile died.
Knox leaned closer. His mouth stopped near my ear, not touching. That tiny distance felt deliberate. A warning. A choice he wanted me to notice.
"How do you know about Jace?" I asked.
"I know every debt in this district. Every medical request. Every courier with a family member flagged for disposal."
"You mean every person your department keeps desperate enough to control."
"Careful."
"What? You'll arrest me harder?"
He pulled my arm higher until pain shot from my wrist to my shoulder.
"I can trigger the restraint's spinal lock," he said. "One command. Your legs stop working. You miss your delivery, your brother loses his treatment slot, and the city marks you both as nonessential."
The words landed harder than the pain.
He had done his homework. I had one night to get the payment to Tessa's clinic. One night before the hospital network pulled Jace's life-support credit and sold the bed to someone with a higher tier.
"You don't get to say his name," I said.
"I just did."
"Say it again and I'll bite you."
His breath brushed my cheek. "Try."
For one stupid second, I felt the heat of him through my jacket. The hard line of his body. The steady pulse beating under the collar of his armor. He smelled like metal, clean soap, and the sharp electric sting of a charged weapon.
I hated that I noticed.
I drove my heel into his boot.
Knox grunted. His hold loosened.
I dropped, rolled under his arm, and kicked the emergency panel. Sparks burst from the cracked controls. The gate jerked upward six inches.
"Mara!"
I shoved my hand under it and grabbed the carrier.
The moment my fingers touched the case, the lock opened.
Not clicked. Opened.
Black light spilled across my palm.
I froze.
"Don't touch it!" Knox barked.
"A little late."
The carrier split down the middle. Something the size of a battery rose from the foam cradle, smooth and dark, with thin red lines crawling across its surface.
The core pulsed once.
Then it punched through my glove.
Pain ripped up my arm.
I screamed and slammed my shoulder into the gate. The core vanished beneath my skin, dragging a line of fire through my wrist, elbow, and spine.
"Mara! Let go!" Knox grabbed my coat and hauled me clear of the gate.
"Get it out!" I shouted. "Get this thing out of me!"
"Hold still."
"You put it in me!"
"I didn't put anything in you."
"You're the officer. Fix it!"
He dropped to one knee and caught my wrist. His glove was cold. His fingers were not. They closed around me with enough force to keep me from smashing my hand against the floor.
The core burned deeper.
Red lines raced beneath my skin. My back arched. A violent jolt snapped my teeth together, and I tasted blood.
Knox's face changed for the first time.
The control slipped. His mouth tightened. His eyes dropped to the glowing marks on my arm.
"What the hell is that?" he said.
"You tell me!"
"The core was sealed. It doesn't activate without a registered interface."
"I don't have an interface."
"Everyone has one."
"Not me. I run packages and steal food credits. I don't plug into city hardware."
He pressed two fingers to the inside of my wrist. A small scanner lit up on his glove. The screen flashed red.
"Your pulse is spiking."
"No kidding."
"Mara, look at me."
"Don't order me around."
"Look at me."
I did.
His gray eyes locked on mine. Too close. His hand was still around my wrist. My skin prickled where his thumb rested over my pulse, right beside the burning lines.
"Breathe," he said.
"You first."
"Breathe, or you'll pass out."
"If I pass out, do you carry me?"
His gaze flicked over my face. "If I have to."
"You'd enjoy that."
"You're not my type."
"Good. I hear officers are terrible in bed."
His jaw tightened. "Keep talking and I let the core cook you."
"There he is. I was wondering where the charming part went."
Another pulse tore through me.
My fingers locked around his wrist. The pain was too big for screaming now. It filled my teeth, my bones, every place I could feel. Something cold slid under my spine, searching for a path.
Then a screen appeared in the air between us.
Not on his glove. Not on the wall.
Inside my vision.
[ILLEGAL CORE HOST DETECTED] [CONNECTION ATTEMPT: 3%] [FAILURE RATE: 87%]
I blinked.
The text stayed.
Knox saw my face. "What are you seeing?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie."
"Then stop asking questions you already know the answer to."
He caught my chin and turned my face back toward him. His bare fingers were warm from the fight, rough against my skin.
"Tell me what the system is showing you."
"Take your hand off me."
"No."
The single word hit harder than it should have.
His thumb rested beneath my jaw. His eyes stayed on mine, cold and focused, but his grip wasn't cruel. That made it worse. He knew exactly how much pressure to use.
"You stole a core," he said. "It chose you. Now I need to know why."
"Maybe it has bad taste."
"Maybe you're lying about being unregistered."
"Maybe your city built a machine that hates cops."
"The system doesn't hate. It sorts."
"That's your excuse?"
"It's the truth."
"No. It's what you say so you can sleep after sending people to the purge lines."
His fingers tightened once, then released.
The hesitation was tiny. I saw it anyway.
A second display opened beneath the first.
[HOST LINK ESTABLISHED] [PRIMARY AUTHORITY DETECTED] [COMMAND SOURCE: KNOX ARDEN]
My stomach dropped.
"What did you do?" I asked.
Knox looked down at his glove. "Nothing."
"Your name is on my screen."
His expression went blank. Too fast. Too clean.
"Say that again."
"Your name. You're linked to me."
He released my chin and grabbed the front of my jacket instead. He hauled me up until my back hit the concrete pillar beside the gate.
"What exactly does it say?"
"You heard me."
"Read it."
"Get off me."
"Read it, Mara."
The core burned down my spine again. My knees buckled, but Knox held me upright. His body crowded mine, one arm braced beside my head, the other locked around my waist to stop me from hitting the floor.
His armor pressed into my ribs. My breath caught against his throat.
He noticed.
Of course he noticed.
"Scared now?" he murmured.
"Of you? No."
"Your pulse says otherwise."
"My pulse says your armor is digging into me."
"Keep telling yourself that."
I shoved at his chest. He didn't move. The angle put his mouth close enough that I felt each word against my cheek.
"Read the screen," he said. "Or I trigger the lock."
"You can't."
"I can shut down every motor function from your hips down."
"Then why haven't you?"
His eyes dropped to my lips for half a second.
That was all I needed.
I drove my forehead into his nose.
Knox cursed and staggered back. I ripped the restraint against the pillar until the emergency release flashed. My stolen cutter was still clipped inside my sleeve. I twisted, dragged the blade across the cuff, and broke the lock.
The display jumped.
[CONNECTION ATTEMPT: 19%] [FAILURE RATE: 81%]
The numbers kept falling.
I ran.
Not toward the exit. The exit had sealed again, and Knox was already recovering behind me. I sprinted down the service corridor toward the freight lift, boots slipping over scattered tools and broken drone parts.
"Mara, stop!"
"You first!"
"The district doors are locked."
"Then unlock them."
"I can't."
I glanced over my shoulder. "You're city enforcement. You can do anything."
"Not with that thing inside you."
He caught up fast.
I reached the freight lift and slapped the call panel. Red. Denied.
Knox grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. I swung the cutter at his face. He caught my wrist inches from his cheek.
The blade trembled between us.
"You keep trying to stab me," he said.
"You keep giving me reasons."
He twisted my wrist until the cutter dropped. It clattered across the floor.
"You have no idea what that core can do."
"I know what it can do to me."
"No. You don't."
"Then explain it."
His face was inches from mine. A thin line of blood marked the bridge of his nose where I had hit him. His thumb dragged over my wrist, right across the glowing lines.
The core pulsed in response.
Knox felt it.
His eyes sharpened. "It reacts to my touch."
"Don't sound flattered."
"I'm not."
"You look flattered."
"I look like I want to keep you alive."
"That's a new one. Usually your kind wants us dead."
"Usually your kind doesn't steal weapons that can erase a district."
The lift panel flickered.
A warning appeared in my vision.
[CORE FUNCTION AVAILABLE] [OVERRIDE: LOCKED] [HOST SURVIVAL RESPONSE: READY]
I stared at the last line.
"What are you doing?" Knox asked.
"Nothing."
"You keep saying that right before something terrible happens."
"Maybe stop standing so close."
"Maybe stop hiding things from me."
He shoved me back against the lift doors. His palm landed beside my head. The other hand stayed around my wrist, holding me between him and the sealed metal.
His heat soaked through my sleeve. His breathing had changed, rougher now. Mine matched it without permission.
"Tell me the truth," he said. "Did you know the core would wake up?"
"No."
"Did you know it was looking for me?"
I hesitated.
That was enough.
Knox's gaze went hard. "You did."
"I knew the buyer said it needed an enforcement signature. I didn't know it meant your signature."
"Who is the buyer?"
"I don't know."
"Name."
"I don't have one."
"Name."
"You want me to make one up?"
"I want the truth before the core finishes connecting us."
The number in my vision dropped again.
[CONNECTION ATTEMPT: 43%] [FAILURE RATE: 57%]
Knox saw my eyes move. "How long?"
"Until what?"
"Until it completes."
"You tell me, officer."
"Mara."
The way he said my name stopped me. Not sharp. Not angry. A warning with something underneath it.
I swallowed. "Maybe two minutes. Maybe ten seconds."
"And then?"
"Then we find out."
"No. We don't gamble with my life."
"You already gambled with mine when you chased me in here."
"I was sent to arrest you."
"You were sent to take the core. What happens to me after that?"
He didn't answer.
There it was. The part he didn't want me to hear.
I shoved him away and snatched the cutter from the floor. Before he could stop me, I jammed the blade into the lift panel.
The panel exploded in a shower of sparks.
The freight doors groaned open.
Beyond them, the lift shaft was empty. No platform. No cables. Just a black drop and a maintenance ladder bolted into the wall.
Knox grabbed the back of my jacket again.
"Don't."
"You have a better idea?"
"Yes. You stay here."
"So you can drag me to a purge van?"
"So I can stop the connection."
"How?"
His jaw worked once. "I cut out the core."
The words chilled me more than the cuff.
"You said it was inside my spine."
"It is."
"And you plan to cut it out with what?"
He pulled a compact black tool from his belt. A narrow red edge unfolded from its handle.
I stared at it. "You carry a bone saw?"
"It's a core separator."
"That sounds like a lie people tell right before they use a bone saw."
"If I don't separate it, the system will complete the link."
"And if you do?"
He looked at the glowing marks under my skin.
"You may not survive."
The lift shaft hummed below us.
Somewhere behind the security gate, alarms began to scream. Heavy boots thundered closer. The city had noticed the illegal core. Purge drones would be next.
Knox stepped into the lift opening and pointed to the ladder.
"Down."
"You're coming with me?"
"The core has tied its signal to my authority. If I leave, it may flag you as hostile and shut down your nervous system."
"So now I'm your problem."
"You're my prisoner."
"You keep saying that like it makes you feel better."
He held out his hand.
I looked at it, then at the dark shaft below.
"Touch me again and I break your fingers," I said.
"You can try."
I climbed onto the ladder.
Knox followed, one hand gripping the rail, the other locked around my belt so I couldn't drop out of reach. Every time I moved, his knuckles brushed my hip through the fabric. Every time the ladder shook, his chest touched my back.
"Stop breathing down my neck," I snapped.
"Then climb faster."
"Stop holding me."
"Fall and I let go."
"Liar."
"You don't know me well enough to call me that."
"I know you hunt desperate people for a living. That's enough."
We dropped two levels before the ladder ended at a maintenance platform. Knox pulled me onto it, then stepped in front of me as the shaft doors above burst open.
Voices echoed through the metal.
"Arden! Report!"
Knox glanced at the core marks on my arm. "Don't answer."
"They know you're here."
"They know my badge is here."
"What's the difference?"
He grabbed my hand and pressed it against the wall.
The core flared.
A red interface spread across the concrete, covering both our shadows.
[HOST AUTHORITY PAIRING] [PRIMARY: MARA VEY] [SECONDARY: KNOX ARDEN] [HEALTH ACCESS: SHARED]
Knox stared at the words.
For once, he had no threat ready.
I looked from the display to him. "Shared?"
His face went pale.
"Knox. What does shared mean?"
He reached for my hand.
I pulled back. "Don't touch me. Answer me."
The red text glitched.
[HEALTH BAR SYNCING] [SYNC RATE: 72%]
Above us, a rifle clicked into firing position.
Knox moved fast. He slammed me against the maintenance wall and covered my body with his. The platform shook as a bullet punched through the door where my head had been.
His mouth was beside my ear.
"When I say run, you run."
"When I say explain, you explain."
"Mara—"
"Why is my health bar tied to yours?"
The rifle barrel pushed through the damaged door.
Knox drew his weapon and raised it toward the opening. His shoulder pressed against mine. His fingers brushed mine where they gripped the edge of his armor.
The display flashed brighter.
[HEALTH BAR SYNCED WITH KNOX ARDEN] [FAILURE RATE: 0%] [WARNING: DAMAGE TO ONE HOST WILL TRANSFER TO THE OTHER]
Knox read it over my shoulder.
Then a woman stepped through the broken door, wearing a black mask and holding a pistol straight at my chest.
"Arden," she said. "Step away from the girl."
Knox shifted in front of me.
The masked woman tilted her head. "No? Fine. I'll shoot through you both."
His hand found mine in the dark and locked around it.
The core pulsed between our joined palms.
The woman raised her finger to the trigger and asked, "Which one of you wants to die first?"