Page 84 of Neon Flux

No, look at me, doll.

“You idiot, look at the walls.” I was only looking at her. I’d been trapped in the line of her jaw as it tightened, and I had to tear my eyes away.

When I did, my eyes went just as wide as hers. The glimmer of what looked like glowing symbols ran over every wall in the apartment.

“Flare again—that’s what triggered it.” She turned her back to me, running her hands over the cabinet again. “Do it!”

“Yes, boss.” I grunted and set out another pulse. The walls flared up again. Glyphs glowed a deep blue on every wall, every cabinet—even the windows. Only the furniture was blank. She ran her finger over the couch, its surface empty.

“What are you waiting for? Get some vid!” She was already recording with her Vysor. I rolled my eyes at the command but did it anyway, my Flux pulsing to keep the glyphs active.

She sprinted out of the room and up the stairs near the entryway.

“Nothing upstairs!” she called, running back down. “And it’s clearest here—where he was killed. Keep scanning!”

When I was sure I’d captured everything, I found her running her fingers over the glyphs again by the bar cabinet.

“I don’t recognize this language,” she said, barely a whisper.

“Looks like gibberish to me.”

She gave me a look that said I was a complete idiot. “Do you really thinkthisis just random. I may not recognize the language, but there are patterns here…it clearly means something.”

“Got an idea already, genius?” My sarcasm was thick.

“I can’t read it, asshole. I’ll have to decode it later, but like…what the fuck is this, Cy? Have you ever seen something like this?”

I shook my head, dead serious for once. “No—well, except my implants.” The circuits glowed just like this did, activated by my Flux. She bit her lip at that, and I was distracted again.

Her eyes drifted to my face, and something inside me settled as she looked at me. Her hand twitched like she wanted to touch me, but she thought better of it. She was looking at the glowing circuits on my face.

“Early implants had Stellarium cores. That’s what reacts…” She trailed off, letting out an aggravated huff. She was frustrated with herself, but her eyes sparked—I could see it. That glint of excitement. Another puzzle she needed to crack. And just like that, she wasn’t looking at me anymore.

“Guess you have your work cut out for you.”

CHAPTER 29

CY

Idropped a wad of a thousand hardcreds on Maddox’s desk without a word. He looked up at me, and I saw the smallest grin twitch at the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t say anything as he tucked the money into his drawer.

“You hear back from Akira?”

I nodded. “Says he’s working on getting us a meeting at the Den. No date yet.”

“She’s in the lounge if you think you can control yourself.”

I flipped him off and walked into the shared workspace.

She was sprawled out on the couch, her Vysor glowing, flashes of light marking the shift in her view. She didn’t even acknowledge me—not that I’d expected her to. She was deep in the data. But it was interesting, how her Flux pulsed beneath her skin, like it was moving through cyberspace with her. No one else would have noticed, but I could feel it. Her whole body pulsed with that power she kept wrapped up so tight, and the way her field flooded the space between us had my mind—once again—racing back to that night, when I’d felt it while I was between her thighs and had been too much of a dumbass to recognize it.

As she lay there, her legs twitched, the edge of her baggy pants riding lower, and I could just see the shape of her hip bone pressing against the soft expanse of her stomach, the flesh there warm and inviting. A hint of a neon green thong peeked out, and I wanted nothing more than to snag the fluorescent fabric with my teeth, drag it down, and sink into that void of ecstasy with my tongue.

Like she could suddenly read my depraved thoughts, she sat up and yanked off the Vysor, her face marked with frustration—not annoyance.

“Find anything useful?” I asked.

Those violet eyes snapped up. She really hadn’t realized I was there. I was about to lecture her on the importance of situational awareness when I reminded myself—she wasn’t my junior, wasn’t an agent. Just a contractor that tasted like heaven.