Chapter 18 · Neon Hunt

"Kane, don't turn that card over!" Silas slammed into me hard enough to knock the breath out of my chest.

The card snapped between my fingers.

A red line split its black surface. Heat punched through my palm. The dead man's coin on the floor spun faster, faster, dragging every loose scrap of paper toward it.

Vargo fired.

The shot cracked past Silas's shoulder and buried itself in the wall behind us.

"You missed," I rasped.

"I wasn't aiming at you." Vargo stumbled through the smoke, one hand pressed to his blood-soaked side. "I was aiming at him."

Silas didn't look back. He had one hand locked around my wrist, his thumb digging straight into the black veins crawling beneath my skin.

"Drop the card."

"Get your hand off me."

"Drop it, Kane. Now."

The card pulsed against my skin. It felt alive. It felt hungry.

I tried to yank free. Silas twisted my wrist until my knees buckled, then caught me by the collar and hauled me upright. His face was inches from mine. Warm breath brushed my cheek.