Chapter 17 · The Core Is Breathing

The screen goes black and I'm already moving.

"Mara, wait—" Kade's voice cuts off behind me. I don't wait. The arena core is three levels down and Mom's name is burning on every feed in the city. Lyra's clock just died. I don't have time to explain.

Sloane catches my arm at the stairwell door. "You can't just run down there."

I yank free. "Watch me."

"They'll shred you before you hit sublevel two." Her grip tightens. "The core's locked behind syndicate security. You need clearance or you need me."

I stop. Turn. Sloane's face is blank, that corporate mask she wears when the cameras are rolling, but her hand on my wrist is shaking.

"Why would you help?"

"Because my brother's down there too." She lets go. Steps back. "The season finale isn't a tournament. It's a harvest. They're collecting familiars in the core and your mom's been running it for two years."

Nox coils tighter around my ribs. I feel it bristle under my skin.

*She's lying,* Nox hisses. The voice scrapes like glass. *She's corporate. She's one of them.*

"Shut up," I mutter.

Sloane's eyes flick to my shadow. "Is it talking?"

"Always.