“Then why the whole media storm about you attempting to kill Kessler? Why are the contracts ramping up?” Jamie asked.
Lyric winced. “I don’t know.” Then, he hung his head. “Maybe it’s the messages I get from Kessler.”
“You’re talking to Kessler?” Jamie snarled.
“No, fuck, he’s sending me these messages on an encrypted app he created in college.”
Jamie held up the note he’d shown me. “Like this.”
“Yeah.”
Jamie and Caleb launched into a heated debate about how safe everyone was, and it was just noise, although Jamie had calmed down and gone into geek mode.
Which meant the conversation was going over my head again. When my phone buzzed and I saw a 911 text from Lianne, before it rang, I was relieved to use it as an excuse to move to the landing outside. A 911 meant shit was happening, and I never ignored those calls. I didn’t close the door, so I could keep an eye on Lyric in case Jamie did something to try to hurt him. Inside, the tech speak was still going on, and Lyric was pale and exhausted, but nodding along.
“What?” I snapped, pressing the phone to my ear.
“Well, fuck you too, sunshine,” Lianne replied. “Just confirming the fight for Saturday.”
I grunted. “Why is this a 911? I said I’ll be there.”
“Just checking. You need some pills?”
“No, I fucking don’t need pills.”
“I have some if you?—”
“I’ll be at the fucking fight!”
I ended the call, fingers twitching, then turned to stare at Lyric lying in that bed. I wouldn’t cancel, I needed to fight for so many reasons, not least, the need to get rid of the aggression that was a permanent part of me.
I didn’t want to care, but I did. The feeling coiled in my chest, tight and furious, and no amount of fists or fights could burn it out of me. I leaned back against the wall for a beat, jaw clenched so hard it ached, trying to pull myself back from the edge. But when I glanced through the open door and saw Lyric still too pale, too quiet, my resolve cracked wide open. I decided to stay outside the door, ready to keep pretending I wasn’t some growling, fucked-up guard dog whose temper was on a knife-edge and who didn’t want to pick Lyric up and keep him safe, but also have him fuck me into next week.
Same as I should have with Danny.
THIRTEEN
Lyric
Rio didn’t come backin. He hovered outside the door for a while—his boots making the boards creak, his weight shifting—and then, he vanished, footsteps receding. I waited longer than I should’ve, listening for him. Hoping maybe he’d say something. But he didn’t.
Jamie and Caleb, though? They were in the zone, bouncing ideas and acronyms like a game ofPong. It was my language. Literally.
“So you came to me because of some connection way back over gaming that you think Kessler’s AI won’t link?” Jamie asked, glancing at Caleb, who appeared less convinced.
I nodded, burrowing deeper under the blanket as if it could shield me from everything else. “I’ve thrownout shadows. Discarded tags, old usernames, buried packets of misdirection to slow anyone down. Right now, they think I’m dead. The car—burned out and trashed—will buy us time.”
Jamie’s eyes flicked up. “So, what now?”
“I need your help,” I said. My voice sounded stronger than I felt. “It’s gonna take two of us. I want to destroy the system.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow. “Two?”
I gave him a pointed stare. He already knew why. “You on the outside,” I said. “Me on the inside.
If I expected him to argue, he didn’t. “Why destroy?”
“Because the system is an autonomous digital monster, and Kessler’s control of it is slipping. I’m the only one who can get close enough to dismantle what he’s built. You hand me over, and he wins. This AI—it’s rewriting itself. Learning. Choosing targets. And I’m the failsafe. I designed the spine of the thing. I think I know where to break it.”
