Fallen Sun.

The Dead Reckoning.

"I don't leave my cargo," Cameron snapped, his voice steady even as his heart hammered against his ribs. He looked at the silver transport, then at the man who stood there like a god in a graveyard.

​"I told you! I'm not cargo!" Brittany pushed him away, her voice cracking. "He's right, Cameron. If I stay here, I'll kill everyone. My friends, the people in the market… you. Just let him take me!"

​"Is that what you want?" Cameron grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "You want to go back to a glass box so they can use you to kill everyone later anyway? Because that’s what a 'Purge' means, Brittany. They aren't saving anyone. They're just choosing when the explosion happens."

​Brittany froze, her golden eyes searching his. "But if I go with him, maybe they can stop the timer. Maybe you can live."

​"I’ve been dying since the day I was born in this dump," Cameron growled. He turned back to Vane. "Hey, Vane! You know what a Feedback-Looper is?"

​Vane’s posture shifted, his confidence wavering for the first time. "What are you talking about?"

​Cameron reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small, jagged piece of tech—a mess of wires and a cracked screen. "It’s a scavenger’s toy. It mimics the signal of any remote in a fifty-yard radius and sends it back as a virus. You press that button to activate the failsafe, and your own ship’s engines explode before the signal even reaches her."

​"You’re bluffing," Vane hissed, though he didn't press the button. "That’s a piece of junk."

​"Everything in the Shallows is junk," Cameron grinned, his finger hovering over a toggle on the device. "But it’s junk that knows how to bite. You want to see whose tech is faster? Or do you want to get that shiny suit dirty when your ship hits the pavement?"

​"You're insane," Vane said, his voice dropping an octave. "You'd risk a nuclear meltdown for a girl you met twenty minutes ago?"

​"I've risked more for less," Cameron shrugged. "Now back off. Get in your bird and fly back to your cloud, or we all go up together."

​Vane stared at him through the visor, the silence in the alley becoming heavy enough to crush. Finally, he lowered the remote.

​"The Architect doesn't like to lose his toys, Ellis. You have ten minutes before the countdown hits the point of no return. Run while you can. You won't get far."

​The transport lifted off, its thrusters scorching the ground as it vanished into the smog above. As soon as it was gone, Brittany collapsed into Cameron’s arms. Her skin was turning a dark, bruised purple, and the heat coming off her was becoming erratic, pulsing in waves.

​"Cameron... " It’s started," she gasped, her hand clutching his jacket. "The whine... It’s so loud now. I can feel the energy building up. It’s going to burst."

​"Not on my watch," Cameron said, scooping her up. He looked at the shadows at the end of the alley. "Jax! If you aren't here in thirty seconds, I'm hijacking a garbage truck!"

​A roar echoed through the streets as a heavily armoured, six-wheeled crawler smashed through a pile of crates, skidding to a halt in front of them.

​"Get in! Get in!" Jax screamed from the driver's seat. "The whole sector is going into lockdown!"

​Cameron tossed Brittany into the back and dove in after her. As the crawler tore away, he looked at her chest. Under her skin, a bright, pulsing red light was beginning to compete with the gold.