Chapter 17 · Wanted Before Sunrise

The first broadcast hits while we're still on the ground.

Nolan's on his knees, coughing blood onto the cracked stone. I'm flat on my back, staring at the sky through a haze of dust and falling ash. The estate wall behind us is halfway collapsed. Somewhere inside, Silas is buried or burning or both.

I should care. I don't.

My shoulder's screaming where the mirror blade went in. My ribs feel like someone took a bat to them. And my chest—where the pact mark used to burn—feels hollow. Empty. Like Nolan pulled the fire out and took something else with it.

Then the screens light up.

Every single display across the financial district flickers gold, then syncs. I can see three from where I'm lying. Billboards. Transit boards. The massive wrap on the Kade Corp tower two blocks over.

All of them show the same thing.

My face.

Nolan's face.

And a bounty number that makes my vision blur.

"Oh, hell," I manage.

Nolan doesn't look up. He's still on his hands and knees, shaking. Gold bleeds through his eyes in waves, bright enough to cast shadows.