Chapter 16 · Redline Surge

"Get off me, Kane!" Vera drove her elbow into his ribs and nearly tore the neural link apart.

The shock hit both of them.

Kane slammed into the side of the railcar, one hand clamped around her wrist, the other braced beside her head. His coat had burned through at the shoulder. Blood ran from his knuckles and dotted her cheek.

"Stop fighting the core."

"Stop ordering me around!"

"You want your spine cooked? Keep pushing it."

Behind him, the block folded in on itself. A tower of concrete burst apart, throwing fire through the broken windows. The railcar jumped on its magnetic track. Vera's boots left the floor for half a second before Kane caught her by the waist and dragged her down against his chest.

The combat core inside her back screamed through the link.

Not with a sound. With numbers.

REDLINE LIMIT: 91%.

MOTOR CONTROL: UNSTABLE.

NEURAL PARTNER: KANE CROSS.

She saw the same warnings reflected in his eyes. Blue light crawled across his pupils, then vanished under the hard set of his jaw.

"Tell me you saw that," Vera said.

"I saw it."

"The core's trying to override me."

"It has been trying for twelve minutes."