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then she’d blanket her. It would be fast and cold, and Iri would be out before she knew what had hit her. “Maybe you should get your hearing checked.”
    “Right, this is the part where you try to distract me.” Iridium shook her head and sighed. “Christo, could you be any more by the book?”
    “Sure. I could launch into all the codes you’ve violated in the past five years.” Jet stepped forward, her hand pointed at Iri’s head. “I could list all your crimes. But then we’d be here for days.”
    “You think of that comeback all by yourself, or did Ops feed you that line too? Oh, wait—you don’t have Ops in your ear right now, do you?”
    Just beyond the steady ache of her head, Jet heard whispers amid the laughter. She grimaced; it was too soon. No more time for banter, or games. With her free hand, she reached into one of her belt pouches to take out a pair of stun-cuffs. “Raise them.”
    Iridium put her hands up in a “don’t-shoot” gesture, but Jet wasn’t completely stupid; she felt the change in the temperature around her, the slight shift in heat. Iri was getting ready to strobe her.
    She glared at Iridium, debated whether she should raise graymatter to whip up a Shadowshield against the coming attack, or just blanket Iri now. She wasn’t back up to full power, but maybe—
    hit her hurt her do it now do it
    Shut up!
Jet’s outstretched arm shook, and she hoped that Iri hadn’t seen her flinch.
Just shut up!
    do it do it make her scream make her bleed
    Sweat beaded on her brow. Light, she needed her com-link. She had to drown out the voices—
    “Still overthinking it, aren’t you?” Iridium’s voice forced Jet to focus on the other woman: Iri was grinning, and she’d lowered her hands. “Some things never change. Poor Jet.”
    “Shut up!”
    “Maybe you’re scared of little old me.” Iridium took a step forward—to attack? No, she was walking toward the discarded box, no doubt filled with digichips or plasigold. She winked at Jet, as if she was in on a secret. “Maybe you’re just jumping at shadows.”
    Jet gasped. Iri knew.
    No, impossible. Iri didn’t know about the voices. Only one other person did. Iri
couldn’t
know.
    do it do it now do it NOW do it
    The Shadow laughed … and Jet smiled.
    “Scared?” Jet said, voice flat. “Me? You don’t know anything about fear. Or jumping at shadows.” The power poured out of her—oh, so fluid and electric, like shocks of pleasure dancing along her limbs—and wrapped Iridium in a blanket of night. “I’ll teach you to be afraid of the dark.”
    She watched Iri double over. Grinned as Iri started to scream.
    sweet screams sweet sounds suck out the light the life
    “No!” Iri’s voice was muffled in the Shadow, desperate. “Jet … Joannie, stop!
Stop!”
    Jet blinked, then gasped when she saw the cocooned form bent on the floor of the alley, struggling.
    Oh Light … Iri?
    Joannie!
    Jet ripped away the blanket, barely feeling the wave of dizziness hit her as Shadow evaporated. On the ground, Iri crouched, head down, her body wracked with shivers, her arms wrapped around herself.
    Biting back a cry, Jet stumbled to her side, put her hand on the woman’s shoulder to offer comfort. “Iri? Callie? Are you okay?”
    The punch landed squarely in Jet’s gut, stealing her breath. She doubled over, and a right hook to her jaw knocked her flat. Sprawled on the ground, she wheezed in garbage-tainted air.
    Iridium sniffed. “Sucker.”
    Jet couldn’t even lift her head to glare. She hurt all over—she’d dissipated too much Shadow instead of absorbing it back. Tiny tremors wracked her limbs, like fog-inspired DTs. Lying there, she heard Iri’s booted footfalls as she walked past Jet, heard Iri scoop up the metal box.
    Damn it—get up!
    “If you’re going to play with the bad girls,” Iri said lightly, “you have to stop being one of the good guys.”
    By the time Jet pulled herself to her feet, Iridium was long