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"Put the gun down, Vera." Kane slammed my wrist against the clinic wall before I could fire.
The shot went wide. It punched through a tray of metal tools, sending them skittering across the floor.
"Get off me!"
"You’re shaking."
"I’m bleeding. There’s a difference."
His forearm pinned my weapon hand above my head. His other hand locked around my waist, keeping me upright while my knees tried to fold. Heat soaked through his jacket and pressed against my side. Too close. Way too close for a man who had spent the last six hours trying to put a bullet in me.
Outside the clinic, rifles hammered the shutters.
Dex ducked behind an overturned medical cart. "Could you two flirt later? The murder squad is inside the building!"
"We are not flirting," I snapped.
Kane’s mouth tightened. "She’s right."
"That sounded personal," Dex muttered.
Another burst tore through the front doors. Glass sprayed across the waiting room. A corporate heavy stepped through the smoke in white armor, his helmet marked with the black triangle of Helix Security.
Kane moved first.
He dragged me down as three rounds cracked over our heads. His body covered mine for half a second, hard and solid, then he rolled behind the reception desk and shoved me after him.
"Stay low," he said.
"You don’t get to order me around."
"I do when you’re about to die."
"That line getting old yet?"
"You’re still alive. So no."
The HUD flashed across my vision.
CORE TEMP: 91% NEURAL LINK: UNSTABLE PARTNER VITALS: 148 BPM
Kane’s pulse slammed through the link and into my skull. Each beat arrived with a dull electric kick. His fear wasn’t showing on his face, but the system didn’t care what he hid.
I looked at him. "Your heart’s going too fast."
"Focus on the shooters."
"I am. I’m also enjoying the proof that you can panic."
His eyes cut toward me. Cold gray. Sharp enough to make the room feel smaller.
"I don’t panic."
"Your pulse says otherwise."
"Your pulse says you’re about to pass out."
"Mine has an excuse."
A heavy kicked the reception desk. The metal frame buckled toward us.
Kane caught the edge with one hand and fired under it with the other. The heavy dropped, armor sparking as he hit the tile.
Two more stormed in behind him.
"Left," Kane said.
"I see him."
"Then shoot."
I pushed up, ignoring the hot pull in my side, and fired twice. The first round clipped the nearest helmet. The second hit the joint beneath his arm. He staggered.
Kane finished the job with one shot.
The other heavy took cover behind a row of cabinets and opened fire. Bullets chopped through plastic drawers. A medical scanner exploded beside Dex’s head.
"I hate rich people," Dex yelled.
"They’re not rich," I called back. "They’re hired."
"Same attitude!"
Kane grabbed my shoulder and forced me behind a support pillar. His fingers dug into the fabric of my jacket, not quite painful, but close.
"You’re losing blood," he said.
"You noticed?"
"The core is using your body to stabilize itself. You’re paying for every second."
"And you’re the expert because?"
"Because I’ve watched six soldiers burn out from the same hardware."
That stopped me for half a breath.
The rifle fire paused.
Kane leaned close, his mouth near my ear. His breath brushed warm against my skin. The link caught the jump in his pulse before I could pretend I hadn’t felt it.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing."
"Don’t lie while we’re connected."
"Then stop listening."
"I can’t."
The words landed harder than they should have.
A grenade rolled across the floor.
Kane kicked it back through the shattered entrance. The blast punched the remaining doors off their tracks. Smoke rushed into the clinic, thick with dust and chemical stink.
"Back room," Kane ordered.
"That’s where Dex keeps the coolant."
"Good. Move."
"You move. I’m busy bleeding dramatically."
He caught my hand and pulled me through the treatment area. His grip was hot, steady, impossible to ignore. I stumbled once. He turned, caught me against his chest, and held me there until my boots found the floor.
For one stupid second, neither of us moved.
His face was inches from mine. A thin cut ran along his cheek. Blood had dried at the corner of his mouth. Mine, maybe. His, definitely. The clinic lights flickered over his eyes.
"Let go," I whispered.
"Can you stand?"
"Yes."
"That wasn’t my question."
"It was my answer."
His thumb pressed against my ribs, checking the wound through my jacket. I sucked in a breath.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, then snapped back to my eyes.
"You’re hurt worse than you’re saying."
"And you’re staring."
His hand went still.
"I’m checking your condition."
"With your eyes on my mouth?"
"Keep talking and I’ll carry you."
"Try it and I’ll bite you."
"You already did."
The memory hit through the link. His hand at my neck. My teeth catching his glove. The flash of his face when the neural chain locked them together.
My pulse jumped.
So did his.
The HUD pulsed red.
LINK HEART RATE: 163 BPM COHERENCE: 42% CORE TEMP: 94%
Kane’s expression hardened. "Vera."
"Don’t say my name like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you own it."
"I own the weapon in your spine."
"You tried to rip it out."
"I was following orders."
"And now?"
He looked toward the hallway as another impact shook dust from the ceiling.
"Now I’m keeping you alive long enough to find out who changed them."
The answer was too honest. That made it worse.
Dex shoved open the back-room door. "Save the intense eye contact for after we survive!"
"There is no after," I said.
"That’s exactly the spirit I need from my patients."
The back room was barely large enough for the three of us. Coolant tanks lined one wall. A bank of illegal surgical equipment blinked in the corner. The main door rattled as boots hit the corridor outside.
Dex pointed at a metal canister. "That one. Blue stripe. Don’t drop it. Don’t shake it. Don’t breathe on it if you can help it."
"You’re saying that like I have options," I said.
"You have one option. Plug it into the port at the base of your neck."
Kane’s head snapped toward him. "You said the coolant was for emergency stabilization."
"It is."
"You didn’t say it had to be injected directly."
"You didn’t ask nicely."
I reached for the canister. My fingers missed it by an inch.
The room tilted.
Kane caught me before my head hit the cabinet.
"She’s crashing," he said.
"I know what crashing looks like," Dex shot back. "Get her seated."
"No time."
"Then hold her still."
Kane shoved his pistol into his belt and wrapped both arms around me from behind. My back hit his chest. One hand locked around my forearm. The other braced across my ribs.
"Don’t make this weird," I said.
"You’re the one talking."
"I talk when I’m scared."
His hold tightened by a fraction.
"You’re scared?"
"I’m terrified. Happy?"
"No."
"Good."
The door burst inward.
Kane pushed my gun into my palm and twisted us sideways. His body became a shield behind me, his chin nearly brushing my temple.
"Aim through the gap," he murmured.
"Your shoulder’s in the way."
"Then trust me."
"I don’t trust you."
"Trust the angle."
A heavy entered with his rifle raised.
Kane shifted my wrist three inches.
"Now."
I fired.
The round hit the heavy’s weapon. It spun out of his hands. Kane stepped around me and drove his elbow into the man’s helmet. The heavy hit the wall, but two more soldiers filled the doorway.
"Three targets," Kane said.
"I count two."
"The third is behind you."
I dropped flat. Kane fired over my shoulder. The soldier behind us jerked back, armor flashing.
I rolled, came up on one knee, and fired at the first heavy’s knee joint. He fell. Dex slammed a tool case into the second one’s faceplate.
"I’m a doctor," Dex yelled. "Stop making me improvise!"
Kane grabbed the wounded soldier by the collar and dragged him inside. The door swung shut behind them. He jammed a metal pole through the handles.
"That won’t hold," I said.
"It only has to hold for thirty seconds."
"Why thirty?"
"Because that’s how long before the next squad cuts through the outer wall."
Dex stared at him. "You knew they were coming?"
"I know how Helix clears a building."
"You used to work for them."
"I still do."
The room went quiet except for the pounding at the door.
I looked at him. "You brought them here."
"They tracked the core."
"Same thing."
"If I hadn’t brought you here, you’d be dead in the sewer."
"If you hadn’t hunted me, I wouldn’t have been in the sewer."
"You stole military property."
"I stole a chance to keep breathing."
He stepped toward me. The cramped room left nowhere to retreat. My shoulders met the cabinet. His hand came up beside my head, palm flat against the metal.
"You think I don’t know what that costs?" he asked.
"I think you know exactly what it costs. That’s why you keep pretending this is just a job."
His jaw flexed.
The link flared again. His pulse hammered against mine. I could feel the heat of him through two layers of clothing, the hard line of his arm trapping me in place without crushing me.
"Tell me to move," he said.
I should have.
Instead, I said, "You first."
His gaze stayed on mine.
The door groaned under another impact.
Dex swore. "If you’re going to kill each other, do it after I save her."
Kane didn’t look away. "What do you need?"
"Her aim is too unstable."
"Fix it."
"I can’t fix a nervous system with a wrench, Kane. Hold her steady."
Kane’s hand closed around my wrist. He guided my arm up, placing the pistol against the gap between the door and the frame.
"You shoot when I tell you," he said.
"You’re enjoying this way too much."
"I’m enjoying being right."
"That’s worse."
The door split down the middle.
Kane pressed his chest to my back and locked my elbow. His breath touched the side of my neck. Every heartbeat in the neural link grew louder until I couldn’t tell which one belonged to me.
"Breathe," he said.
"Don’t coach me."
"You’re holding your breath."
"Because you’re standing on it."
"Three seconds."
The first helmet appeared through the crack.
"Two."
The heavy raised his weapon.
"One."
Kane shifted my wrist.
I fired.
The muzzle flash lit the room. The first soldier dropped backward. Kane pulled me down with him as return fire chewed through the cabinet above our heads.
"Again," he said.
"My arm’s numb."
"Use the other one."
"You’re very full of solutions for a man hiding behind me."
"I’m not hiding. I’m controlling the angle."
"That’s what cowards call it."
His hand slid from my elbow to my forearm. His thumb pressed against my pulse.
"Call me a coward again," he said quietly, "and I’ll put you over my shoulder and carry you out myself."
The threat should have made me angry.
It did. It also made my stomach twist in a way the core didn’t explain.
"Try it," I said.
His eyes lowered for half a second.
"Don’t tempt me."
The wall behind us exploded.
A breach charge blew through the clinic’s side entrance. The blast threw Kane and me across the room. My shoulder slammed into the floor. The coolant canister rolled beneath a table.
Dex crashed into a stack of crates.
"Everyone alive?" he shouted.
"Define alive," I yelled back.
Kane was already moving. He kicked the wounded heavy’s rifle away and dragged me behind the surgical table as black-armored troops poured through the breach.
Their commander entered last. Red visor. Silver rank bars. A Helix execution squad lead.
His rifle tracked across the room and stopped on Kane.
"Cross," he called. "Step away from the asset."
Kane raised his weapon. "You’re off mission."
"Mission changed."
"By whose order?"
The commander’s visor turned toward me. "By the board. The courier and the enforcer are both containment risks. Burn the clinic."
Kane’s pistol clicked off safe.
"You heard him," I said. "They’re killing you too."
"I heard."
"Still planning to drag me back?"
"Not tonight."
That answer hit harder than the blast.
The squad opened fire.
Kane shoved me behind the table and returned shots through the gaps. Dex crawled toward the coolant canister, but a round struck the floor beside his hand.
"Don’t touch it!" Kane barked.
"It’s the only one left!"
"I know."
"Then cover me!"
"Vera, get the canister."
"You just told him not to touch it."
"I told him. I’m telling you."
"Why do I get the suicidal assignment?"
"Because the system is keyed to you."
"You could’ve led with that!"
I lunged from cover.
The core burned hotter as I moved. Red warnings filled my vision. My legs dragged, but I slid beneath the table and grabbed the canister.
A soldier spotted me.
"There!"
Kane shot him before he could aim.
I rolled back, clutching the coolant against my chest. The blue stripe glowed beneath my fingers.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Bring it here."
"You bring yourself here."
"Vera."
"Say please."
He fired past my head. The round struck a soldier behind me.
"Please," he said.
I froze.
Kane’s eyes locked onto mine across the smoke and flashing muzzle fire.
"Don’t make me repeat it," he said.
"That was almost polite."
"I can fix that."
I crawled toward him.
The squad lead shouted something. I couldn’t hear it over the ringing in my ears. Kane reached for me, but his knees buckled. His pulse spiked through the link.
"You’re hit," I said.
"Not badly."
"You’re lying."
"You do it constantly."
"Yeah, but I’m charming."
He caught the canister as my hand slipped. Our fingers collided around the cold metal. The contact sent a sharp jolt through the link.
CORE TEMP: 98% LINK COHERENCE: 67% HEART RATE: 181 BPM
Kane’s face went pale.
"Coolant port," he said. "Now."
"At the base of my neck?"
"Yes."
"You’re going to have to hold me still."
His stare sharpened. "I know."
"And if you mess this up—"
"You die."
"I was going to say I’d shoot you."
"You can do both."
He pulled me against the wall and turned me so my back faced him. One hand pressed flat over my shoulder. The other guided the canister toward the small access port hidden beneath the collar of my jacket.
The squad fired again.
Kane pinned me harder, using his body to block the line of fire. My cheek brushed his jaw when the wall shook. His breath came rough against my hair.
"Hold still," he said.
"Your heart is trying to climb out of your chest."
"Stop counting it."
"I can feel it."
"Then feel this."
His fingers tightened around mine, forcing the canister into position.
The port sparked.
Pain shot through my neck and down my back. I bit down on a scream.
"Vera!"
"Do it!"
"It’s not locking."
"Then hit it harder!"
"That canister ruptures, it’ll freeze the link."
"And if it doesn’t?"
"You get seven hours. Maybe less."
"Kane."
"I’m trying."
His mouth was close to my ear again. His voice dropped low, stripped of command for one dangerous second.
"Stay with me."
I turned my head. "That an order?"
"Yes."
"Then make me."
His eyes met mine.
The port clicked.
Cold flooded through the system. The red warnings vanished one by one. My knees gave out, but Kane caught me and lowered me instead of letting me hit the floor.
For a breath, I stayed against him. His arm held my ribs. My hand gripped his jacket. Neither of us let go.
Then the squad lead staggered into view.
His armor smoked. One side of his helmet had split open. He still held a rifle in one hand and a small silver coolant canister in the other.
Dex stared at it. "That’s the backup tank."
Kane pushed me behind him. "Get down."
The squad lead laughed through the broken speaker in his helmet.
"You want the core, Cross?" he rasped. "Come take it."
He lifted the canister over a glowing plasma grenade lying on the floor.
Kane raised his weapon.
"Don’t shoot," I whispered.
"Why?"
"Because if he drops that tank—"
"I know."
The squad lead’s hand began to open.
Kane’s arm locked around my waist, holding me back as I reached for my gun.
"Let me go," I said.
"No."
"He’s going to drop it."
"I said no."
"Kane, if you don’t let me take the shot, he’ll—"