Chapter 28 · Ten Seconds to Empty

The Crown's core was screaming.

Not out loud. Worse than that. It screamed through the bond, through every thread of light connecting Mara to the throne she was sitting on, and the noise tasted like copper and burnt sugar. Her hands were locked to the armrests. Black light crawled up her wrists, into her veins, and she couldn't move. Couldn't let go.

Nox was somewhere behind her. She felt it thrashing, felt the shadow peeling apart under the Crown's pull, and the bond between them was stretching so thin it hurt to breathe.

"Eight seconds," Kade said. His voice came from the edge of the platform, flat and tight. "Mara, you need to—"

"I know." She bit the words out. Her teeth were numb. The Crown wanted more. It wanted everything. And if she gave it ten full seconds, it'd hollow her out and spit Nox back into whatever void it came from.

Seven seconds.

Sloane was in front of her now. Mara didn't remember her stepping onto the platform, but there she was, one knee on the metal grating, her blade familiar coiled around her wrist like a silver scar. Her face was pale.