Chapter 6: Double Cross
They didn’t speak as they moved through the maze of alleys and overgrown service corridors. Mira walked a half step behind Kade, watching the way he scanned each shadow and alley mouth, always calculating risk. For a while, the city seemed to breathe with them—quiet, watchful, tense.
Kade guided Mira to a crumbling underpass, their makeshift rendezvous. Neon from distant billboards flickered against the wet pavement, painting everything in sickly shades of blue and green. The appointed contact should have arrived already.
Kade checked his wrist device—no signal, no sign of pursuit. Mira kept close, shivering from adrenaline and cold.
Footsteps echoed in the darkness. Kade tensed, drawing Mira behind him. A figure emerged from the gloom—Sera. Her eyes were unreadable, lips curled in a thin smile.
“You made good time,” Sera said, hands raised to show she was unarmed.
Kade kept his voice level. “You said this route was safe.”
“It was. Plans change.” Her gaze flicked to Mira, then to the pocket where Kade kept the drive. “Hand it over. Both of you.”
From the shadows, two more figures stepped forward—faces hidden behind mirrored masks, the unmistakable glint of AI enforcement badges catching the neon. Kade’s pulse hammered. It was a setup.
Mira’s breath hitched. “You sold us out.”
Sera shrugged, regret flashing briefly in her eyes. “I told you, Kade, everyone keeps score. The AI offered more than you ever could.”
Kade considered his options. Three against two, with no room to run. He eased Mira behind him and subtly flexed his grip on the stun baton in his sleeve.
“I should’ve known,” Kade said softly. “Trust is expensive here.”
Sera’s face hardened. “It’s survival.”
One of the AI enforcers stepped forward. “The drive. Now.”
For a heartbeat, nobody moved. Then Kade lunged—quick as a striking viper, baton flashing as it connected with the enforcer’s helmet. Sparks showered the alley as the AI stumbled back. Mira darted to the side, grabbing a chunk of broken rebar and swinging at the second enforcer’s legs.
Sera cursed and ducked out of the way, but Kade was already moving. He ducked a swipe from the other enforcer, pivoted, and drove his baton into the machine’s side port. The armor sparked and hissed, circuits sizzling.
Sera drew a sidearm, but hesitated—torn between old loyalties and new bargains. Kade met her eyes, saw the flicker of doubt.
“You never were good at picking sides,” he said, voice low.
For a second, Sera’s mask slipped—guilt, anger, pain. But then she turned and vanished into the maze, leaving the fight behind.
Kade finished off the second enforcer with Mira’s help, the alley suddenly silent except for their ragged breathing. The betrayal cut deep, sharper than any wound.
Kade looked at Mira, who nodded grimly. “We need to move. The AI will send more.”
Kade agreed. As they slipped away, he felt the weight of Sera’s choice, and the knowledge that betrayal, in this city, was only ever a matter of time.