Page 99 of The Fall

“Then why?” Cinder narrowed his eyes. “What is she offering you?”

“You’ve a boring sex life, yeah? Some of us enjoy a little pain.”

Cinder hit her again. Kerr coughed and laughed. “Harder, daddy.”

He reared to strike, but hidden in the shadows, another hand caught his wrist. “Tech first.” It was a woman’s voice with the characteristic Styx lisp from their fangs, but her face was obscured by a high collar and a curtain of maroon hair.

Cinder jerked his arm away. “Tell us how they block us from reading their biosigs.”

“I will, yeah.” Kerr gathered her bravado. “We’ve already chatted over what she did to me.”

Cinder grabbed her jaw and forced her to look at him. Kerr stared defiantly at his optical implant. A bead of sweat ran disgustingly down his bald temple. His hormone regulator hissed, shunting cortisol out of his system. “I know you’re fucking her.”

“Jealous? We all saw what she did when you tried to touch her, yeah?”

Cinder threw her face to the side and snickered. “Why are you still protecting her? She used you too. Play it.”

The back wall lit up with the recording Greasegun had taken from the bar. Kerr’s stomach dropped. Greasegun’s betrayal wasn’t what stung, it was her own stupidity. There she was, wasted and burbling over a girl she’d just met. Who’d just discarded her for a fucking computer. Kerr should have known she was only ever good for a quick fuck. It didn’t matter if it was Chalice or Lusa or anyone else.

Why had she believed that Lusa wanted something more? What more could there possibly be?

But Lusa had also defended her. Killed for her. Why would she do that if she was only going to throw her away? None of it made sense.

“What do you know about her tech?” Cinder circled her chair.

Kerr turned her face away from the images on the wall. Kerr didn’t know everything, but she knew the tech was a myth. “Did you see any tech on her?” It wasn’t a direct betrayal, but it felt like one.

Kerr couldn’t see him, but she heard Cinder’s footsteps stop. “Go on.”

Kerr’s chest rose and fell too quickly. The vice gripping her heart wouldn’t relent. She should have learned after Chalice that she couldn’t trust anyone. Telling Cinder that they would find them camping just outside the city would serve her right. She was worth more than that. She was done being someone else’s fool.

Her lip bobbed, the words hesitating on the edge like a nervous diver, but they refused to jump. Greasegun was right. Lusa could cut her heart to pieces and she would ask her to do it again.

“The Adlet’s tech is incompatible with yours.” Lusa’s secrets would remain safe with her.

“What does that mean? We need new hardware?” Cinder’s optical implant twitched.

“No.” Kerr shook her head. A drop of blood fell thickly on her leg. “The biosig blocker overheats any existing cyberware, even if it’s turned off.”

“Is this what she told you?” Cinder straightened his stance, crossing his arms.

“Chalice had the specs,” Kerr leaned forward as much as she was able. “What the fuck do you think we were trading for?” She turned to the woman still standing in the shadow. “Before you partnered with these paedophiles and banjaxed the whole thing.”

The woman stepped forward, brushing hair away from her face. “Your outrage is immature. It’s business. Nothing more.”

“Well, you’re shite at business, then. It’s a feckin’ mystery how you’re holding half this city. Your men still don’t have Chalice, and we barely broke a sweat relieving you of that DocPod. Many thanks, by the way.” Kerr projected her most confident grin.

The woman wrinkled her nose. “Why did you bring it to Model 2?”

“That’s another thing we have.”

Cinder turned to the woman with a raised eyebrow. “Mashö?”

Mashö’s eyes narrowed only slightly. “I didn’t get this far believing filthy tunnel rats tied to chairs. Prove it.”

“It’s in my back pocket, yeah?” Kerr could feel her pulse throbbing in her throat.

“Where is it?” Mashö’s jaw flexed.