The sub-light engines of the Obsidian Wrath screamed, a low, tectonic vibration that rattled the heavy steel consoles of the armory. Outside the viewport, the rusted hulk of Docking Bay Zero-One shrank into a pinprick of light before vanishing entirely into the ink-black abyss of the sector.Jayden didn’t give a single fuck about the station. He didn’t care that half of Vex’s syndicate was probably hyper-ventilating in the dead vacuum they’d left behind.His world had narrowed to the woman pinned beneath him against the steel console.Fiona’s thighs locked around his waist, her leather pants slick with a sickening mix of her blood, his blood, and grease. Her violet eyes were wide, blacked out with pupils so dilated they looked like twin abysses. She was gasping, her chest slamming against his bruised, half-cauterized ribs, her nails digging so deep into his good shoulder that she drew fresh red tracks through his skin."Do it, Jay," she rasped, her voice a filthy, desperate whisper th

The wounded mercenary didn’t wait to be told twice. He dragged his melted leg through the breach, weeping pathetic corporate tears, leaving a thick trail of dark blood across the polished steel deck of the Vindicator.Jayden stepped over the pile of butchered bodies blocking the threshold, his heavy combat boots slick with warm gore. His titanium shoulder hissed as the internal cooling pumps struggled to offset the heat of the firestorm he had just sprinted through. Behind him, the bridge of the Obsidian Wrath was a roaring inferno, but ahead lay the sterile, cold halls of the Thorne Corporation Heavy Cruiser.Fiona glided past him, her twin plasma pistols smoking in her hands. The tear down the center of her leather vest exposed the pale, bruised skin of her chest, glistening with sweat and specks of dried blood. She didn't bother fixing it. Instead, she looked back over her shoulder, her violet eyes blown out with a dark, unhinged hunger that made Jayden’s gut twist with possessive

Just as Jayden pulled Fiona tighter against his chest, their bruised lips sliding together in a raw, violent rhythm, a sudden high-frequency whine exploded inside their skulls.It wasn't a sound from the bridge speakers. It wasn't coming from the ship’s external comms.It was coming from inside them.Jayden gasped, breaking the kiss as a blinding surge of golden neural static tore through his brainstem. Fiona screamed…a sharp, ragged sound of pure shock clutching at her temples as her violet eyes flared with raw white light.Her knees buckled on Jayden’s lap, but he caught her with his titanium arm, his own body rigid as his cybernetic optic frantically recalculated code that had lay dormant for six goddamn years."What the fuck..." Jayden gritted out, blood dripping from his nose as his head felt like it was being split open by a thermal torch. "Fi... what is that?""It’s in my head, Jay!" she gasped, her fingernails digging so hard into his shoulders she tore fresh skin. "It’s burni

The tungsten glass of the open vault hissed, venting thick clouds of cryogenic steam across the deck plates. Inside the bay, the Vanguard Exo-Chassis hummed with raw, caged power.Jayden stepped forward, his boots crushing shattered sentry glass into powder. His organic eye locked onto the pitch-black cybernetic limb, watching the dark-matter plasma lines pulse beneath its matte carbon plating. His worn, makeshift arm the piece of scrap Jax had bolted to his collarbone was weeping hot synthetic fluid onto his ribs, completely spent."You ready for this, heavy-metal?" Fiona purred behind him.She wasn't holding tools. She didn't need to. Through their shared neural link, Jayden could feel the thrilling, twisted wave of her anticipation hitting his brainstem like a shot of pure adrenaline. She leaned her back against the terminal, her ruined vest bare over her bruised chest, her violet eyes blown wide as she watched him."Do it, Fi," Jayden growled. "Tear this piece of shit off me."She