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"Move. Now. Unless you like the idea of suffocating in a gutter," Elise snapped, her hand clamped like a vice on the back of Jax's neck.
Jax stumbled forward, his boots skidding on the greasy cobblestones of the Lower Ward. He tried to jerk away, but the moment he gained an inch of distance, a sharp, metallic pinch tightened in his chest. It felt like a rusted gear had just slammed shut over his windpipe.
He gasped, clutching his throat, and was instantly yanked back against her. The heat of her body hit him—leather, ozone, and something like cold rain.
"Stop fighting it, you idiot," she hissed, her voice low and dangerous right against his ear. "The link doesn't care if you're stubborn. You drift too far, you stop breathing. Simple as that."
Jax managed a ragged breath, glancing at the shimmering, translucent chain connecting his chest to hers. It wasn't a physical rope, but it felt heavier than iron. "This is a joke. I’m a mechanic, not a... whatever the hell this is. Just let me go and find a way to unscrew this thing from my ribs."
"You don't 'unscrew' a living gear-curse, Jax. You break it, or you die with it," Elise replied. She didn't let go of his collar. She steered him deeper into the smog, where the neon signs of Cinderport flickered in sickly greens and bruised purples. "And right now, you're the only bait I've got to get into the Iron Sump."
"The Sump?" Jax stopped dead. "That's black market territory. If the Enforcers find me there, I'm not just arrested—I'm erased."
Elise stopped and turned, pinning him against a soot-stained brick wall. The move was fast, predatory. Her forearm pressed against his chest, and for a second, Jax forgot how to breathe for a reason that had nothing to do with the curse. Her eyes were like flint, scanning his face for any sign of a lie.
"You're already an outlaw, rust-rat. You lit a dead star-core. That's a Class-A felony in every sector of this city," she whispered. Her face was inches from his. He could see the tiny gold flecks in her irises, the way her lip curled in a mix of disgust and something that looked like curiosity. "You can either rot in a cell, or you can help me find the man who sold that core. If we find the source, we find the key to this link."
Jax swallowed hard. The proximity was dizzying. He could feel the warmth radiating off her, a stark contrast to the biting chill of the ward. "And what's stopping me from just... running the other way?"
Elise smirked, a cold, sharp expression. She shifted her weight, her thigh brushing against his. "The fact that I'm the only thing keeping your lungs working. Try it. I dare you."
He didn't try it. Not because he was scared, but because the way she looked at him—like he was a puzzle she wanted to take apart—made his pulse hammer against his ribs.
"Fine," he muttered, leaning back into the wall. "But I want a cut. If we're hunting black market cores, I'm not doing it for free."
"You'll be lucky if I don't charge you for the oxygen," she retorted, finally stepping back. The tension snapped, and Jax felt a sudden, jarring void where her heat had been.
They navigated the Sump in a tense, suffocating silence. The market was a chaotic sprawl of illegal gear-shops and flickering holographic ads. Everywhere, the smell of burnt oil and ozone hung heavy. Jax kept his head down, his eyes darting around. He knew these alleys; he'd spent half his childhood stealing copper wire from the scrap heaps here.
"Left at the rusted turbine," Jax whispered, his voice tight. "There's a dealer named Vane—no relation, I hope—who trades in forbidden star-shards. He might know who's reviving dead cores."
"Vane?" Elise frowned. "I've heard of him. He's a bottom-feeder. But he's a bottom-feeder with a very wide network."
They reached a heavy iron door etched with glowing runes that looked like they'd been scratched in by a madman. As Jax reached for the knocker, a massive man with a cybernetic jaw stepped out of the shadows, his arm replaced by a hydraulic piston that hissed with steam.
"Closed," the brute grunted.
Elise stepped forward, her hand resting on the hilt of her hunting blade. "We aren't here for a purchase. We're here for a conversation."
The brute laughed, a metallic, grating sound. "Conversation's expensive. Especially for a pair of... wait."
He stopped, his optic sensor zooming in on the shimmering chain between them. His expression shifted from boredom to genuine shock. "Is that... a Bound-Link? You've gotta be kidding me. Who the hell is the unlucky bastard tied to the Vane Huntress?"
Jax stiffened. "The Vane Huntress?"
Elise didn't look at him. Her jaw tightened. "Shut up and get inside, Jax."
Inside, the shop was a nightmare of clockwork. Gears of all sizes turned in the walls, some grinding with a screech that set Jax's teeth on edge. In the center of the room sat a man draped in shimmering silk, his fingers long and spindly, playing with a small, glowing orb.
"Elise, darling," the dealer purred, not looking up. "I heard you were disgraced. Kicked out of the High Circle. I didn't realize you'd resorted to keeping pets."
"Cut the chatter, Vane," Elise snapped, her voice like a whip. "Who's moving dead star-cores in Cinderport? Someone's lighting old fires, and it's leaving a trail."
Vane finally looked up, his eyes landing on Jax. A slow, predatory grin spread across his face. He didn't look at the girl; he looked at the boy. Specifically, at the way the gear-curse pulsed in Jax's chest.
"Oh, this isn't just a core," Vane whispered, standing up. He walked toward Jax, his movements fluid and serpentine. "This is an Apprentice's Mark. A relic of the First Age. Tell me, boy... do you feel it? The hunger? The way the magic wants to eat your very soul just to stay lit?"
Jax stepped back, his heart racing. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just found it."
"Found it?" Vane chuckled. "You didn't find it. It chose you. Or rather, it trapped you. And now you're a walking beacon for every Magus-Hunter in the city."
Elise's grip tightened on Jax's shoulder, pulling him closer. The movement was protective, almost possessive. "What do you mean, 'beacon'?"
"I mean," Vane said, leaning in, "that the moment he lit that core, a signal went out. Not to the law, but to the people who actually *own* those stars. And they don't like it when street rats steal their jewelry."
Suddenly, a high-pitched, piercing chime echoed through the room. Elise froze. She reached into her coat and pulled out a handheld tracker. The screen was flashing a violent, strobing red.
"What is that?" Jax asked, leaning over her shoulder. He could smell the faint scent of vanilla and steel coming off her skin.
Elise's face went pale. "It's a squad-ping. High-tier Enforcers. They didn't just track the core... they tracked *me*."
"Wait, you're an Enforcer?" Jax yelled. "You said you were a Huntress!"
"I'm both, you idiot!" she hissed, shoving him toward the back exit. "And right now, we're both dead if we stay here!"
As they bolted for the door, the sound of a heavy transport ship roared overhead, the shadow of a massive dreadnought blotting out the neon lights of the Sump. A voice boomed through a loudspeaker, amplified by magic and steel, echoing through the narrow streets.
"Jax Renner. Elise Vane. You are under arrest for High Treason and Forbidden Artifice. Surrender now, or be terminated on sight."
Jax stopped, staring up at the sky. "My name... they have my name?"
Elise grabbed his wrist, her fingers digging into his skin. "Run, Jax!"
They scrambled into a side alley, but as they turned the corner, three figures in shimmering silver armor dropped from the rooftops, landing with bone-jarring thuds. They didn't carry guns. They carried jagged, glowing spears that hummed with a lethal frequency.
One of them stepped forward, the visor of his helmet reflecting Jax's terrified expression. He didn't attack. Instead, he reached into a pouch and pulled out a pair of heavy, blackened iron shackles—Constraint Rings.
"No one's running anywhere," the soldier sneered. "Especially not a pair of linked dogs."
He lunged forward, the rings open and hungry, and as he swung toward Jax's wrist, the living gear in Jax's chest gave a sudden, violent lurch.
At that exact moment, Elise let out a sharp, strangled scream, her hand flying to her heart as if she'd been stabbed.