The storm raged over Neon City as Ava, Jace, Lena, and Eli raced toward the Spire, the second device’s pulse growing stronger, syncing with Ava’s implant. The woman who’d appeared—her eyes like Mara’s—had vanished, but her presence lingered, and Ava’s vision of a cold-faced clone wired to the Spire chilled her. Damian’s escape and his glowing eyes haunted Jace, and Ava felt his tension, her implant urging her to ease it, her body craving his touch despite the danger.

“The Spire’s fortified,” Eli said, his tablet mapping its defenses—drones, turrets, assassins. “Mara’s there, and that second device is key.” His cybernetic eyes flickered, catching Ava’s implant. “It’s reacting to you, Ava. Be careful.”

Jace’s hand gripped hers, his thumb brushing her wrist, and Ava’s pulse surged, desire flaring. “We end this,” he said, his voice rough, eyes locked on hers. “Together.”

She nodded, pulling him close, their lips meeting in a searing, soul-deep kiss. His hands slid under her jacket, fingers teasing her skin, and Ava arched into him, her body humming with need. The implant amplified every sensation—his taste, his heat—and she clung to him, their breaths ragged, bodies pressed against a rusted wall. His lips trailed her jaw, grazing her implant, and she moaned, desire consuming her, a promise of more in the quiet after the storm.

Lena’s voice cut through. “Save it for later!” She fired at a drone, and they moved, infiltrating the Spire’s lower levels. The halls were sleek, pulsing with tech, and Ava’s implant flared, showing another vision: Mara and the clone—her face Ava’s—activating a network of implants, Damian at its core. Was Ava the key to their plan?

Assassins ambushed them, and Jace fought, his blade clashing, while Lena and Eli held the flank. Ava’s baton stunned an attacker, but the woman from the storm appeared, her device pulsing. “You’re the spark, Ava,” she said, her voice eerily like Mara’s. She attacked, and Ava’s implant surged, pain and desire mixing. Jace tackled the woman, but she escaped, dropping a data chip. Eli grabbed it, his tablet revealing a name: Selene, Mara’s sister. Was Selene the true mastermind, and what did her device want with Ava’s mind?

Cliffhanger: Is Selene the true mastermind, and can Ava resist the device’s control over her mind?

Chapter 9: Edge of the Abyss

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