The return from the Broker's chamber left my body weak, my mind in tatters. I barely made it through the portal before Kairos caught me by the shoulders, steadying me before I hit the floor.
His eyes searched mine, sharp even in fatigue.
"What did he say?"
My throat was still raw from silence, but I forced the words out. "That someone with my blood sold me. And… he wanted me to auction my first love."
Kairos's mark sparked, fractured light dripping down his temple like molten glass. His jaw clenched. "Classic trick. Clean trade for a dirty future. And you didn't—"
"I refused."
"Good. Because in the Market, clean kills."
I nodded, but the tremor in my chest wouldn't still. My mark burned hot. In the mirror across the room I saw it again: the triangle, the unfinished circle orbiting it like an eye trying to open. It pulsed, alive, hungry.
The system confirmed what I already knew:
Administrative Hearing Completed
Proposal Rejected: Future Auction – First Love
Anomaly Status: Active Resistance
Collateral Risk: HIGH
"Collateral?" I whispered. "What—"
The knock came before Kairos could answer. Two soft taps on the door.
I froze. I knew that rhythm.
"Iris," I breathed.
Kairos's eyes widened. "No—" But the handle was already turning.
The door creaked open, and there she was: Iris, with her messy hair and oversized yellow jacket, holding a thermos that steamed in the dim light. Her smile faltered as she took in my pale face, Kairos's dark silhouette, the unnatural glow leaking from my forehead.
"Luna… you didn't answer your phone," she said softly. "I brought you soup. You look—are you okay?"
The room shifted. My mark throbbed once, twice, then blazed.
The system bared its teeth in scarlet letters:
ALERT: Debt Drag Detected
Subject: IRIS [Non-User]
Risk of Contagion: CRITICAL
Maleficium Onset: 00:04:59
My heart dropped into ice.
Debt drag.
Kairos moved faster than thought, stepping between us. "Iris, right? You need to leave this apartment. Now. Walk three blocks without looking back."
"What? Who are you?" Iris blinked, confused. "Why is he—Luna, what's happening?"
The floor groaned. The picture frame on the wall tilted, then fell, glass shattering on the ground. The steam from Iris's thermos swirled unnaturally, twisting into spirals that defied gravity.
"Luna…" Her eyes found mine, wide and afraid.
The system snarled:
Maleficium Contagion In Progress
Class Projected: I (Escalates to II if Subject Evades)
Time Remaining: 00:04:11
My throat closed. If Iris left now, she wouldn't escape—she'd carry the curse with her. The Market had already marked her.
"Options," Kairos snapped. His tone was clinical, but his eyes were urgent.
"A) Push her out and gamble the curse escalates.
B) Contract of Shelter—split the debt, anchor it to you.
C) Vital Trade—you pay alone. She walks free."
The words hammered into me.
"What's the cost of C?"
His mark flickered. "Your voice. Seven days. Or your vision of color for twenty-four hours. Or your given name—until you reclaim your destiny."
My chest tightened. Iris's face swam in my vision: confused, afraid, but still here. Still warm. She had no idea the Market was reaching for her life.
The clock ticked down: 00:03:28.
And then the air tore.
Three Collectors seeped from the ceiling like spilled ink. Tall, faceless silhouettes in gray suits, with clockwork hands instead of fingers. Their eyes were narrow slits of light, scanning Iris as if she were already a ledger.
The walls around them warped. Words bled off the calendar on the fridge; the numbers slid down the page. Where the Collectors walked, reality forgot its definitions.
Kairos raised his hand, sparks dancing off his fractured seal. "Class II Collectors," he spat. "They'll strip her identity clean unless you anchor her now."
The system pressed the blade deeper:
Impact in: 00:02:47
Mitigations Available:
(A) Immediate Separation – HIGH RISK
(B) Contract of Shelter – Cost: -15 Score, shared anchor
(C) Vital Contract – Cost: Property of User (Severe)
The thermos slipped from Iris's hands and crashed to the ground, broth spilling across the tiles. She startled, looking between me and Kairos.
"Luna, please—what's happening? Who are they? Why do you—"
Her voice cracked. And something inside me broke with it.
I knew my choice.
"No," Kairos snapped, reading my expression. "Not C. Don't you dare—"
"I'll do it," I whispered. "I'll take C."
"Your voice? Luna, without your voice you can't negotiate, you can't scream for help—"
The Collectors stepped closer, clock-hands clicking, glass faces turning toward Iris.
"I said, C."
The Broker's voice slid into my skull, velvet and venom. "How noble. Nothing fattens the Market like self-sacrifice."
The screen glowed black and gold:
Vital Contract Λ-7
User: LUNA MÉNDEZ
Beneficiary: IRIS [Non-User]
Protection: Full Immunity – 72h
Cost: Voice of User (7 days)
Secondary Effects: Link Established (Navigation Level 1)
Warning: Attempted Evasion Converts Loss to Permanent
The timer screamed: 00:01:06.
Kairos's hand clamped on my wrist. "Think. If you lose your voice—"
"Iris lives."
I looked at Iris. Her eyes were wide, tears on the edge. She shook her head. "No—whatever this is, don't hurt yourself for me."
But the choice was mine. Always mine.
"Aceptar."
The word left my lips—and I knew it was the last sound I would make for seven days.
The contract ignited. My throat burned, hollowed out, silenced. I gasped, but no sound came. The Market had stolen the resonance of me.
The Collectors froze. The link seared across my forehead, a line of light that leapt toward Iris. She gasped as a faint mark shimmered between her brows, invisible to all but us.
The system chimed, almost smug:
Contract Λ-7 Activated
Protection: IRIS – Full, 72h
Anchor: Shared Link B ↔ Beneficiary
Cost Paid: User Voice (7 days)
New Fate Score: -95
The Collectors disintegrated into ash and ink, sucked back into the cracks of reality. The room exhaled.
Iris staggered forward, clutching my arms. "Luna—your voice—why aren't you—"
I pulled free and grabbed the notebook Kairos shoved into my hands. My writing shook:
I'm fine. You're safe. Stay with me tonight.
Her tears spilled, but she nodded. "Okay. I'll stay. I won't leave you."
Kairos leaned back against the wall, exhaling smoke from a cigarette that didn't exist. His fractured seal pulsed. "Damn it. I told you not to do it. But—" He glanced at Iris, then back at me. "You did it fast. That saved her."
The Broker chuckled inside my skull. "A week of silence. How poetic. Let's see what else you'll give me when the time comes."
I ignored him.
Instead, I reached for Iris's hand. The link pulsed between us. Warm. Alive. More alive than any Market link should have been. I felt her heartbeat as if it were mine, her fear, her hope. Too much.
Kairos noticed. His frown deepened. "That link isn't standard. It's… empathic. The Market doesn't give that at Level 1. Not without a catch."
The system confirmed:
Secondary Effect Detected: Empathic Synchrony
Status: Unregistered Anomaly
An anomaly. My anomaly.
Iris touched her forehead. "It tickles. And… I think I can feel you. Not just see you. Feel you."
I couldn't answer with words. I wrote instead: It's the Market. But I'll protect you.
She hugged me tight. "Then I'll be your voice until yours comes back."
Something sharp lodged in my chest. I couldn't speak, but I knew—Iris had just become more dangerous to me than the Market itself.
Later, when Iris slept on the couch, Kairos and I sat in the dim kitchen. His fractured seal smoldered as he lit another phantom cigarette.
"She doesn't belong in this," he said. "Every tether to a non-user is a liability. You think you saved her tonight? You tied her closer."
I scrawled: Better tied and alive than free and dead.
He studied me, then shook his head. "You really are going to break his Market, aren't you?"
Before I could answer, the system wrote its own truth across the wall in lines of fire:
Note: Investigation flagged.
Traitor of Blood Detected.
Partial genetic match: 89%.
Source: Primary family line.
I stopped breathing.
Kairos cursed under his breath. "He told you the truth, then."
The Broker's laugh oozed into my skull, slick and satisfied.
"Didn't I say? Someone of your blood. Oh, Luna… you'll never look at family the same again."
The mirror on the wall cracked. My mark flared, its half-circle tightening closer to completion.
I clutched the notebook and carved the words across the page with shaking hands:
I will not accept it. I'll invalidate the contract.
The system answered instantly, mercilessly:
Choice Confirmed. Sacrifice Required.
Revelation: Pending – Chapter 10.
The countdown resumed.
And I, voiceless and burning, knew the Market had only just begun to devour me.