Chapter 15 · Ghost Cipher

"Get away from the reactor, Vera!" Kane drove his fist into my ribs before the black suit could fold me in half.

The hit knocked the air out of me. I slammed into the grated platform, palms scraping over hot metal. Below us, the reactor chamber pulsed white through the gaps. Every pulse made the dead cyberware in my spine twitch.

"You hit me again," I gasped, "and I swear I'll—"

The suit crossed the platform in three silent steps.

Kane grabbed my jacket and yanked me sideways. The suit's armored hand punched through the railing where my head had been. Metal screamed. A chunk of it dropped into the reactor shaft and vanished before it hit the light.

"You can finish that threat after we stop dying," Kane said.

"You always this charming when you're scared?"

His eyes cut to mine. Cold. Sharp. Too close. His breath brushed my cheek, warm against the heat coming off the reactor.

"I'm not scared."

"Right. And I'm the company princess."

The suit turned toward us.

It wore Kane's old combat frame. Same black plates. Same narrow shoulders. Same silver marks around the wrists. But there was no face behind the visor.