Chapter 24 · Topside Is a Trap

I came back to the present with sand in my teeth and Echo's gun in my face.

"Don't move." Her voice was flat. Professional. The kind of tone that meant she'd already made the call and was just waiting for me to give her an excuse.

I didn't move. My head was still ringing from whatever Mom had shoved into it, and my hands were shaking. The memory was already starting to blur at the edges—her face, the blood, the way she'd said topside like it was a death sentence.

"You're worth more than I thought," Echo said. She kept the gun steady. "Steelhook's got a bounty. Official channels, black market, even the Dust Runners are in on it. Everyone wants the sand kid who broke the Pits."

"You sold me out."

"I priced you." She corrected me like it mattered. "There's a difference. Selling out means I already took the money. Pricing means I know what you're worth and I'm deciding."

I tried to push myself up. She clicked something on the gun and I stopped.

"Here's the deciding part," she continued. "Steelhook wants you alive. Whole. Functional.