Chapter 6 · Don't Die on My Back

Vera's bleeding through her coat. I can see it spreading down her left side, dark and wet, and she's not saying a word about it.

We're four blocks from the fight. Maybe five. The alleys here twist like someone built them drunk, and every shadow looks like another Red Heron blade waiting to step out and finish what the hound started. Vera's moving fast, too fast for someone who just took a claw to the ribs, and I'm half-running to keep up.

"Slow down," I say. "You're gonna—"

"Keep moving." Her voice is flat. She doesn't look back.

I grab her shoulder. She spins on me so quick I nearly trip, and for a second I think she's about to put me through the wall. But she just stares at me, breathing hard, her face pale under the glow of the rune-lamps overhead.

"You want to stop here?" she says. "Right where they can track us?"

"I want you to not bleed out before we get wherever the hell we're going."

Her jaw tightens.