If I hold my breath, maybe I can fade back into the shadows. Maybe I can escape without being noticed. But someone is on the trainer deck right now, someone who isn’t supposed to be. And if they’re making a pass at Bao, I need to do everything in my power to stop them.

But I’m not brave enough. My head is pounding, my breath is coming in little ragged gasps, and it’s taking everything in me to lift up one foot after the other and creep closer and closer to that open door. The LED beacon hums to life, and I recognize the homing command that rattles through the deck. They’re summoning Bao.

If I don’t stop them, I’m dead anyway. That seems to be the only reason I do anything these days. So I creep forward until I’m right on the other side of the entrance, my fingertips curling around its harsh metal edge. I have to force myself to crane my neck forward until I catch a glimpse of the figure standing in the middle of the trainer deck, staring out at the Reckoner’s approaching bulk.

It’s Code. And in his hand is a massive syringe filled with a syrupy, cyan liquid.

Cull serum. I’d know it anywhere.

When Reckoner pups are still embryonic, there’s an evaluation period that ends one of two ways. If the pup is deemed healthy, it stays in stasis until someone commissions it. But if an IGEOC agent marks it as unviable, the pup gets an injection. One little syringe is enough to kill a fetal pup. Cull serum is designed to dismantle them from the inside out, and it’s one of the only reliable ways to kill a Reckoner.

Bao is massive, but there’s no telling what a dosage that strong could do.

There’s a clatter of noise, the thunder of footsteps behind me. Someone else is coming, and if I know my odds, it’s someone with the same goals as Code.

I jump, pressing myself back into the shadows just as Swift skids around the corner and bounces off the wall. She barrels onto the trainer deck, letting out a primal roar as Code whirls to meet her. He tosses the syringe to the side and whips out his knife, but Swift doesn’t slow. She twists away from his reach
as Code slashes, and the blade carves a neat red line in her side.

I should step forward. I should help. Swift can’t take on Code alone—he beat her in the Slew. But I’m frozen.

I’m not a fighter.

Swift grabs his other arm and yanks hard, throwing him back against the wall. Something’s been unleashed inside of her. She’s an absolute animal. Code tries to raise the knife, but she slams her elbow down on his wrist, and the weapon pops from his grip.