Chapter 9 · Undercity Broker - Chapter 9: The Buyer Topside

The mark burns before Lin even clears the last checkpoint.

He's halfway up the emergency stairwell, the one that leads to the old subway maintenance office topside, and the black ink on his forearm is crawling like it's got somewhere to be. Lin stops on the landing, breath short. The curse hasn't done this before. Not without him making a trade first.

He pulls back his sleeve. The tattoo writhes under the skin, edges bleeding outward like smoke in water. Then it settles. New words appear beneath the old scars.

*Buyer is compromised. Exit while terms remain.*

"What the hell does that mean?" Lin mutters.

The mark doesn't answer. It never does when he actually asks.

He keeps climbing. He doesn't have a choice. The ledger page in his pocket is the only currency he's got left, and if the buyer topside is compromised, that just means the price goes up. Lin's done worse than walk into a bad deal. He's still breathing. That's the bar now.

The door at the top is rusted, but the lock's been oiled recently. Someone's been using this route. Lin pushes through into a narrow hallway that smells like old concrete and stale air.