Page 48

“I didn’t hate it, and the money was good.

” The job hadn’t been the issue—it was the Vector—but I wouldn’t tell him that.

“Hell, I almost wish I’d started sooner so Mom wouldn’t have needed to work so hard.

She always wanted me to focus on my studies.

I didn’t realize how bad it was until the collectors came. ”

“She gave a fuck about you.” It wasn’t a question. “That’s why you did the shield job. So something like that wouldn’t happen to others.”

He wasn’t wrong.

He muttered, “Fucking bleeding heart.”

“Fuck you, corpo. Some of us still have our souls.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Yeah, why was I? “You asked. Besides, if I’m going to die down here, might as well confess my sins. You know, get into heaven scot-free like the Catholics believe.”

He laughed—a harsh sound, like it wasn’t something he did often.

“I don’t think these are the sins you should be confessing. Besides, we’re not going to die, Eon.” His use of my name gave me pause.

“You got a secret plan I’m not privy to? I’d love to hear it.”

He grinned. “You’re the smart one. I was relying on you.”

“Do you ever take things seriously?”

“Some things, yes. But death? No.” He let out a breath. “You know, if you hadn’t blown our cover, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“So this is my fault?”

“Objectively, yes.” I was getting pretty fucking tired of him being right. “What happened, anyway?”

“There was a countermeasure. Something interfered with the device.”

“Maddox said that wasn’t possible. This should’ve been cutting edge.”

“It was…from POM.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Which means?”

“A good cyberrunner always leaves themselves a backdoor. Or a countermeasure. If the Kitsune security could detect this…it means someone from POM gave them the counter program.”

Finally, Cy smirked. “Someone with access to all the cutting-edge tech. Like Renard.”

I nodded. “It all but confirms they had some of his data.” I glanced at our smashed Vysors in the corner. “If they didn’t magnetically wipe those…we still downloaded some of the data. Get us out of here, and I can probably reconstruct at least some of it.”

“Finally earning your keep.”

“ If you can get us out of here. Going to have to not die first.”

“I’m working on the plan as we speak.” He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, looking way too calm. Then his shoulder twitched, and he winced.

I scooted closer, and his eyes opened as I set my bound hands on his shoulder. His eyes snapped fully open. “What are you—”

“You didn’t get this fixed.”

He shrugged away from me. “I told you, it’s not fixable.”

“Why’d you lie to me?”

“I needed you on this job.”

“You said you didn’t want me on this job!” For the first time in a long time, he wouldn’t meet my eyes. Fine.

I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly. The dampener in my neck still did its job, severing my Flux, locking it away where I couldn’t reach it. But it had never just been something I used—it was me. In my blood, in my breath, in the beat of my heart. No chip could ever strip that away completely.

And Cy…Cy’s Flux was the same.

I curled my fingers a little tighter around his shoulder, just feeling.

His pain crackled beneath my touch, raw and jagged, his body out of sync with itself.

I could sense where the implant fought against his nerves.

A broken circuit, static hissing between flesh and metal.

The dampener on my neck should’ve made it impossible to do anything about it.

But I didn’t need power—I just needed alignment.

Cy sucked in a sharp breath, his whole body tensing. “What the hell are you—”

“Relax.” I barely whispered it, my focus locked on the current between us, something even the chip in my neck couldn’t stop.

His signal flickered against mine, frayed at the edges, but something clicked.

Something aligned. His breath stuttered, the worst of his pain dulling as I evened out the interference, smoothing the discord between his body and the machine buried in his flesh.

For a second, he didn’t move. Then he let out a long, shaky exhale.

I opened my eyes, studying him. His dark irises sparkled, like the night sky filled with infinite galaxies, a flush creeping up his throat. Whether from relief or something else, I wasn’t sure.

His voice was quiet when he finally spoke. “You shouldn’t be able to do that.”

I couldn’t suppress my grin. “I guess I’m just special.”

He huffed, but it lacked his usual bite. “Or broken. Dampeners are supposed to cut you off completely.”

I smirked, even as something cold twisted inside me. “Maybe some things can’t be cut off.”

The air between us was charged, humming with something I couldn’t name. Something it would’ve been so easy to surrender to, especially with my hands on his shoulder, our Flux still pulsing in a resonant hum, his eyes bright with stars and his lips parted slightly.

“Could you do that to your dampener?” he asked.

I…hadn’t thought of that. “I could try.”

“Do it. Then we’ll—” He was interrupted as footsteps rang down the hallway. He shifted his body, and once again, he put himself between me and our adversary. “I’ll distract them. You get that chip off and fry them.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.” I wasn’t sure if I was talking about the chip or the harm.

“Then it was nice knowing you, doll.” He shifted himself between me and the cell bars.

The footsteps stopped, and I could just barely make out a man in the shadows outside the cell.

“Long time, no see, kirakirashita . ”

I heard Cy mutter, “Shit.”

The man stepped out of the shadows beneath the harsh fluorescent light.

He had long, dark hair pulled back into a bun, and a mask that covered only the right side of his face, accentuating the scar that ran along his jaw.

The hair above his ear was burned away, the scarring stretching across the back of his head and down his neck.

So many of the Kitsune were pyrotekniks—I found it strange to see one with burn scars, their skin naturally resistant. But as the man stepped forward, I realized these weren’t burns from flames. The scars were laced with veins of fractal patterns, and I immediately knew who had done this to him.

Shit was right.

“Haruto? Who let your ugly face back in here?” Cy asked in his usual irreverent tone. God, we were so dead.

“Lot has changed since the flood, Cy. Since you disappeared. Kitsune needed men who weren’t afraid to do what needed to be done.”

“Yeah, you always had a knack for the hard work, huh? Like taking on kids half your size, five to one. How’d that turn out for you?”

Haruto slammed his fist into the bars, and I jumped. “Always thought you were so fuckin’ funny. Well, you don’t have your little light show to help you now.”

“Always liked the odds stacked in your favor. Whatever you’re gonna do, can we get it over with? I don’t have all day.” Cy let out a long-suffering sigh, and even I had to stare at his audacity.

Haruto’s eyes flicked to me, and I saw the flames swirling in them as he gave my legs the usual rake.

“Who’s the bitch?”

“Just some shōfu . Sorry you got dragged into this, doll.” Cy leaned against me dramatically, tilting his head back onto my shoulder, his weight pressing into me, blocking my body with his.

“It’s coming out of your time,” I muttered.

He pinched my thigh. Oh right, I should probably play the part.

Haruto was still staring, and I made my eyes as big as I could. “Please! Let me out, I’m not with this guy…he said we were just going to…”

His eyes flashed. “I knew I recognized you. Rook’s got you down at Hellfire, doesn’t he? Damn, today really is my lucky day.”

I couldn’t help it—I flinched. Knowing this guy had wrapped some robo flesh around his cock and had me riding him pissed me off. But fuck if I was going to let this asshole be the last thing I ever saw. I held onto that feeling—that indignant anger. Deep in my core, my Flux roiled with it.

“I’ll have time for you later. Let me take care of this asshole first.” He opened the cell and grabbed Cy by the collar. Cy locked eyes with me one more time, and I knew this was on me.

I backed up against the wall of the cell, and I didn’t need to act afraid. I was terrified, my hands shaking so badly I pinned them behind me to the wall.

Haruto ripped Cy’s jacket and shirt off, and I heard Cy murmur, “Could’ve at least taken me to dinner first.”

That earned him a swift punch across the jaw that snapped his head to the side so violently, I gasped. Cy barely reacted.

My heart was racing, and pain laced down my neck as I tried messing with the chip. I took a deep breath as Haruto strapped Cy to a chair and I tried again. White-hot pain shot through my brain stem.

Focus! My pinky shook, but I blocked it out. I blocked everything out and let the technology talk to me—the way it always had.

Haruto slammed his fist into Cy’s shoulder, and I saw his jaw tighten with real pain. I felt his Flux spike, even with the dampener, and I rode that frequency. It was anger and pain—the feelings I always suppressed. Right now, if we were going to get out of this alive, I had to set them free.