Chapter 14 · Symphony of Steel

"Don't move." Rhys caught Mara by the back of her jacket and yanked her off the catwalk one second before a blade of blue fire sliced through the railing.

Metal screamed. Mara hit his chest hard, one palm trapped between them, while the burned railing dropped into the dark below.

"You said don't move," she snapped. "You didn't say you'd throw me."

"You were standing where the shot landed."

"Then aim better."

Another bolt cracked against the support beam beside Rhys's head. Sparks sprayed across his cheek. He shoved Mara behind a stack of steel plates and planted himself in front of her.

She grabbed his sleeve. "Move."

"Stay down."

"You don't get to order me around."

"Right now, I do. Three hunters. Upper gantry. One on the floor. All carrying null-bolt rifles."

Mara peeked around the plate. A black-armored figure stepped between two dead machines, rifle raised. The city seal on his shoulder had been scratched out and replaced with a silver corporate mark.

Her bonded wrist pulsed against Rhys's grip.

"They're not city hunters," she whispered.

"No."

"You know them."

His fingers tightened. "I know what they do."

The hunter on the floor shouted, "Mara Voss! Rhys Calder!