“Stop squirming, Quinn, or I’ll give you a reason to bleed.”
Next thing I knew, my face slammed into wet cobblestones. A heavy boot crushed my windpipe, pinning me down until my vision blurred. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream. Just grit and old rain in my mouth.
“Where’s the money?” Jax growled. He shifted his weight, grinding my cheek into the dirt. “Your old man ran out of excuses. Your house is gone. Your name is trash. All that’s left is the debt, and you’re the only thing left to pay it.”
I clawed at the stone, fingers scraping raw. I tried to heave a breath, but the boot didn't budge. Jax was a mid-level collector for the Guild. He liked the sound of ribs snapping more than his paycheck.
“I… don’t… have it,” I wheezed.
Jax laughed. Dry. Nasty. He leaned down, smelling of cheap tobacco and rot. “Wrong answer. Maybe if I take a finger, you’ll remember where you hid the Quinn silver.”
His grip was a vice. He twisted.
Blinding pain shot up my arm. I let out a strangled cry, body jerking instinctively. Then, it happened.
A cold, metallic snap echoed inside my skull. A book—heavy, leather-bound, shimmering with gold light—slammed open in my mind’s eye. No pages. Just columns. Credits. Debits. Transactions.
*Sovereign Ledger Bonded: Silas Quinn.* *Current Balance: 0.00 Credits.* *Emergency Offer: Trade [Fear] for [Immediate Liquidity]?*
I froze. A hallucination? I'm dying in a gutter and my brain is offering me a loan?
“You’re quiet all of a sudden,” Jax sneered. His knife glinted an inch from my knuckle. “Decided to play dead? Fine. I’ll carve the interest right out of your skin.”
*Trade Fear for Cash.*
I didn't think. I just screamed *Yes!* inside my head.
A violent vacuum ripped through my chest. Every ounce of terror vanished, replaced by a cold, clinical void.
*Transaction Complete: [Terror] exchanged for [1,000 Imperial Credits].*
Suddenly, the alley didn't feel so small. Jax didn't look so scary. He just looked like a loud-mouthed thug with bad breath.
“Get your foot off me,” I said. My voice was flat. Bored.
Jax blinked. “What did you say, brat?”
“I said get your foot off me.” I stared straight into his eyes. “You’re wasting my time.”
He grinned—a predatory look that promised more pain. “Oh, you’ve gone crazy. I like it. Let’s see how long that confidence lasts when I—”
He never finished.
I didn't know how to fight, but the Ledger was still open.
*Buy [Momentary Kinetic Burst] — Cost: 500 Credits. Confirm?*
*Confirm.*
I didn't punch him—I exploded. My arm moved faster than my eyes could follow. My fist hit his jaw with a wet, sickening crack. Jax flew backward, head snapping back as he smashed into a stack of wooden crates. Splinters and filth buried him.
I stood up slowly, wiping blood from my face. My chest felt empty. No adrenaline. Just a weird, humming silence. The gold light pulsed under my skin, demanding more.
“What the hell was that?” I whispered.
“That,” a voice drawled from the shadows, “was a very expensive mistake.”
I spun around.
A woman leaned against the brick wall, a long, curved blade resting casually on her shoulder. Dark leather clung to her like a second skin. Her eyes were sharp, piercing, and locked on me.
“Who are you?”
She didn't answer. She stepped forward, fluid and dangerous. The air grew heavy. She stopped three feet from me, the tip of her blade dipping to point directly at my throat.
“I don’t know how you got your hands on a god-ledger, kid,” she purred. “But the people who want it back don't do refunds. They just do autopsies.”
I stepped back. My heel caught a stone. I stumbled, and in a heartbeat, she was there.
Cold steel pressed firmly against my jugular. I could feel the heat of her breath on my cheek, the scent of ozone and dried blood.
“Now,” she whispered, her eyes scanning my face with contempt. “Tell me where the rest of the book is, or I’ll see if your head looks better on a pike.”
The Ledger flared, blocking her face.
*Warning: High-Threat Entity Detected. Power Imbalance: Critical.* *Suggested Action: Sell [Life Debt] to acquire [Temporary Protection]?*
She was smiling—the kind of smile a wolf gives a rabbit right before the snap. Her grip tightened. The blade bit into my skin.
“I’m not asking twice,” she said.
I looked at the Ledger. I looked at her. I did the only thing a broke man knows how to do.
“I’ll make you a deal,” I gasped.
She paused. “A deal? You’re in no position to negotiate, Quinn.”
“I have something you want,” I said, a manic greed surging through me. “And I can make you the richest woman in this city if you just put the knife down.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You have ten seconds to prove it, or I start carving.”
I reached into the Ledger’s void. My fingers brushed a hidden tab: *Contracting.*
As the countdown hit zero, the Ledger ripped open in a blinding flash of gold. A single word appeared in the air between us, glowing with an irresistible, binding light:
*SELL?*