Chapter 32 · Undercity Broker - Chapter 32: Paying With Her Name

The voice from the box cut off mid-word. Lin Mo heard glass crack somewhere in the clinic behind them, then boots on tile. Dr. An was still blocking the doorway, blood running down her arm where she'd ripped out her Bureau tracker.

"How long?" Su Jin asked.

"Two minutes." Dr. An didn't turn around. "Maybe three if they're scared of the mutation cases in Ward C."

Lin's hand was still on the metal box. The voice had been his mother's. He knew that. He also knew she'd been dead for six years, buried in a municipal plot he couldn't afford to visit. The Trade Curse mark on his arm was burning hot enough to blister.

*You want the station open,* the Curse said in his head. *I can do that. But the lock isn't metal.*

"What is it?" Lin asked.

*A name. Hers. The one she gave you.*

Su Jin grabbed his shoulder. "We need to move. Now."

But Lin was staring at his arm where the tattoo was shifting, characters forming in the black ink. He could read them this time.