Chapter 16 · The Faceless Den

"You picked the wrong door, gambler." The biggest man in the room slammed Kane into the steel wall hard enough to rattle his teeth.

Kane's shoulder hit first. His fingers slipped on the cold metal, and the stolen chip nearly fell from his hand.

"Yeah?" he rasped. "You got a return policy?"

The man drove a forearm across Kane's throat. He had a shaved head, a silver tooth, and enough muscle to make the other six men behind him look like backup dancers.

They stood in a half-circle around the old card table. No windows. No exits Kane could reach. Every one of them wore the same black coat with the syndicate's red eye stitched over the heart.

Lilith leaned against the table three steps away, one ankle crossed over the other. She looked perfectly comfortable. Her pistol rested in her hand, pointed at the floor instead of the men.

That was either confidence or betrayal.

Kane's lungs burned.

"You said the chip was in here," he forced out.

Lilith glanced at him. "I said the people holding it were in here. I never said they'd hand it over.