Hunter’s target started acting odd.

  His pace quickened by half a step, his shoulders squared just a little tighter, and he stopped glancing at storefronts like a normal pedestrian would. Instead, his head stayed level, eyes forward, and walked with the casual pace of someone who needed themselves to look casual.

  Shit.

  Hunter slowed her own pace, keeping her posture relaxed. This place was particularly empty, and the crowded market was up ahead, so if she wanted to make a daring move, this was the time.

  She whispered into comms, “Target is twitchy. If he takes the alley west, I’m breaking off. Or I’ll need a reroute.”

  There was no answer.

  “Fang?” She asked again. “Not a time for a nap, Fang.” She sent her a ping. But Fang still didn’t reply.

  Fang wasn’t the type to ghost her mid-mission, but the chance of her being in danger was also minimal. She should be at the safehouse, and it wasn’t not like they were pulling some high-stakes infiltration. They were just tailing a guy. A guy who, as far as all intel suggested, wasn’t that important—just a mid-level fixer running errands.

  Did her wristband malfunction?

  She kept her posture casual, careful not to lift her wrist and draw attention. A quick glance down confirmed that the signal lights were steady, with no interference. It was working fine.

  But when she looked back up—

  Gonzo was gone.

  Hunter’s pulse jumped. The street was a straight line with no immediate turns, just buildings on both sides. There was no way he’d made it to the next intersection that fast. No way he’d sprinted out of view in the single second she’d looked away.

  A clanking sound resounded from above.

  Then Hunter’s instincts screamed at her—look up.

  Gonzo was on the walls. His mechanical appendages shot from his sleeves like grappling hooks latching onto the walls. The segmented limbs retracted and extended in rapid bursts, hauling him skyward.

  Mid-level fixer, my ass.

  Then, Hunter’s instinct willed her to move. She elbowed an exact spot on her backpack.

  Metal appendages shot down, clamped around her legs in a snug, armor-like grip. Pistons locked into place, tensing her leg muscles as servos whirred. The moment her feet hit the wall, the system kicked in. Zero-G balance pre-set engaged.

  Her first step defied gravity. Then the second. Then the third.

  She ran straight up like a mountain goat, feet gripping onto the surface as if it were solid ground. The reinforced joints absorbed the impact, redistributing momentum so she could push off at angles only thought possible for species like a Glutak.

  Above her, Gonzo moved like a spider on overdrive. He spun midair like a space ballerina, detached, then re-anchored himself higher.

  She pushed off the wall, launching sideways onto a vent pipe, then kicked off that to gain altitude. The servos in her makeshift suit whined as it absorbed the impact.

  Gonzo twisted his head to glance at her. She could almost hear his thought process—How the hell is she keeping up?

  She bared her teeth in a grin.

  Then, Gonzo let go.

  For a split second, Hunter thought he’d lost his grip. But no. He wanted to fall.

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  He twisted again, slingshotting himself downward. Right at her.

  Gonzo came at her boot-first. She rebounded off protruding ledges, catching the edge of a window frame as he rocketed past. The impact of his landing cracked the wall where she had been an instant ago.

  The moment his feet hit the wall, his appendages shot out again, stabbing into the structure like harpoons. The cables snapped taut. He bent his knees, then the appendages retracted, catapulting him straight up.

  He flipped at the peak of his ascent, twisting like a gymnast. His boots caught the very edge of a rooftop railing, and with a final push, he was on the roof.

  Hunter hissed. Fine. If he wanted to pull some ridiculous aerial stunt, she’d take the direct approach.

  Her mechanical supports adjusted, gripping tighter around her legs. The world tilted, gravity skewing in her favor. She sprinted straight up. Windows, ledges, old signage—none of it mattered. Her feet barely touched the surface before launching her further at an unnatural speed. She wasn’t climbing. She was galloping, like some kind of mountain predator chasing prey.

  Gonzo had barely steadied himself on the roof when she crested the edge.

  She kicked off the last ledge, clearing the final gap in a single bound—then landed with a stout thud, crouched low, weight balanced.

  Gonzo’s head snapped toward her. His eyes widened, possibly the largest they had ever been in their lives.

  Hunter grinned. “Bad move, buddy.” He should really have headed for the crowd.

  Gonzo must’ve realized the same thing a second too late. He shouted something, in a non-Japanese language Hunter didn’t understand but was sure she’d heard it somewhere before, spun on his heel, and bolted.

  The low gravity of Mendax turned the rooftops into a playground. His mechanical appendages shot out again, not to climb this time, but to fling him forward. He cleared the first gap, landing on the next roof with barely a sound. Another jump—another ledge—his boots barely kissed the edges before he kicked off again.

  Grinding both her heels against the ground, Hunter turned off the artificial weight of her boots. She cursed and lunged after him.

  No grappling, no harpoon tricks. Just raw speed. Her enhanced legs absorbed the momentum of her sprint and launched her forward. First gap, then second gap cleared. Her adjustments for low gravity had been correct. She was turbo, but still landed at places she’d intended.

  He has tech. A similar kind of appendages to what I have. And I haven’t heard a word from Fang.

  Fuck. I shouldn’t have chased after him.

  Gonzo twisted as if he had no spine, firing his appendages at a distant billboard. The cables yanked him sideways mid-flight, sending him spinning onto another roof at an impossible angle.

  The sheer audacity of it almost made Hunter laugh.

  Almost.

  Because now she had to land.

  She tilted her weight and let the Zero-G balance system do its job. She hit the rooftop at a dead sprint and kept moving.

  Gonzo changed tactics.

  He was still running, still leaping rooftop to rooftop, but his appendages? No longer for movement.

  Something’s up.

  She elbowed her backpack again. Two spare appendages folded out, snaking down her arms and wrapping around her palms like segmented, armored gloves.

  One of Gonzo’s appendages snapped. The harpoon-like limb shot toward her.

  She caught it barehanded. A burst of orange firelight exploded from the friction.

  Her fingers clenched around the retracting cable before Gonzo could yank it back. Her feet skidded, her body lurched—but she held on.

  Then the tension snapped. Literally.

  With a sharp whine of metal under stress, Gonzo severed his own appendage. The cable recoiled, flailing in the air like a dying serpent before falling limp. His sleeve went with it, ripping clean off.

  For the briefest second, Hunter didn’t register the symbol on him. She was too focused on the fact that he’d actually ditched a piece of himself just to escape her hold. But then—

  The tattoo.

  It sprawled across his upper arm in a swirling, interwoven pattern of dark lines and luminous silver accents that pulsed faintly under the neon skyline. At its center lay a diamond-like shape, split down the middle by a thin, branching fissure—veins of light threading through dark ink, like cracked glass under pressure.

  Arcs and jagged points surrounded it, giving the design a restless sense of motion—as if caught mid-transformation. A star exploding. A bird frozen in the instant of flight.

  Strokas.

  And that appendage? The severed limb had shot from a backpack, one so slim and flush against his spine that it was nearly invisible beneath his coat. Turned out him wearing an oversized coat wasn’t just a terrible fashion choice.

  Her body stopped before her mind could catch up. The chase, the rooftop sprint, the fire of pursuit. They all evaporated in an instant.

  Gonzo jumped. With one final leap off the rooftop, he vanished into the abyss below.