30,000 Feet

Chapter 3: The Red Market Melee

The Red Market was a labyrinth of black-market tech and stolen souls. As they wove through the crowded stalls, Kaelen kept his hand on his holster and his body shielding Sienna.

They were halfway through when the lights went red.

"Target sighted!" a voice boomed over the intercom.

The crowd scattered as six armored "Breachers" dropped from the rafters. Kaelen pushed Sienna behind a crate of neural-links. "Stay down!"

What followed was a dance of lead and steel. Kaelen moved like a shadow, disarming the first guard and using his shield as a battering ram. But he was outnumbered. Just as a Breacher leveled a pulse-rifle at his head, a heavy metal shutters slammed down, pinning the guard’s arm.

Sienna was at the control panel, her eyes glowing with the reflection of the code she was rewriting. "Don't just stand there, Merc," she smirked. "I opened the back exit!"

They sprinted through the closing doors, the sound of boots echoing behind them. In the narrow alleyway, breathless and bloodied, Kaelen pinned her against the wall—not out of aggression, but out of sheer, panicked relief.

"You're a liability," he rasped, his face inches from hers.

"And you're a dinosaur," she countered, her breath hitching.

The tension snapped. He kissed her then—a desperate, bruising kiss that tasted of salt and gunpowder. It was the kiss of two people who didn't expect to see tomorrow.