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"Don't move." The blade pressed under my jaw before I could lift my head. Cold steel kissed skin, and the man holding it sounded even colder.
"Hands where I can see them. Slow."
I spread my fingers against the stone. My spine scraped the wall. Blood pulsed behind my eyes, and the knife bit deep enough to make swallowing a bad idea.
"Where's the rest of your team?" he asked.
"What team?"
The edge pushed harder. A thin line of heat opened across my throat.
"Wrong answer."
"I don't have a team." I kept my voice steady because panic wouldn't make the knife disappear. "I don't even know where I am."
"You came through the western portal ten minutes ago. Eleven people died when it blew. Tell me who sent you."
"Nobody sent me. I was in my apartment."
"Your apartment?"
"Yeah. In Seattle."
His eyes narrowed. Smoke-gray, sharp, and close enough for me to see the tiny scar cutting through his left eyebrow.
"What year?" he asked.
"What?"
"Answer me."
"I don't know. Twenty twenty-four."
The knife shifted from my throat to my collarbone. His coat brushed my knee as he leaned in. He smelled like metal, leather, and old smoke.
"Seattle fell six years ago," he said. "It doesn't exist anymore."
My heart slammed against my ribs. "That's not possible. I was there yesterday."
"No, you weren't."
"You're insane."
"Maybe. But I'm not the one bleeding portal residue."
He caught my wrist and turned my hand over. Dark, iridescent sludge streaked my palm, shimmering like oil scattered with crushed stars.
I stared at it. "I don't know what that is."
"Try harder."
"I'm telling you the truth."
"Then you're useless."
The blade drew back.
The air between us split with a hard blue flash.
A translucent screen snapped into existence over my knees. Lines of white text raced across it.
**SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE.**
The man stopped. His grip stayed locked around my wrist.
"What the hell is that?" I asked.
"Don't touch it."
"I wasn't planning to."
More text appeared.
**BLOODLINE SCAN IN PROGRESS...**
**ROYAL BLOODLINE CONFIRMED.**
**HOUSE: VOSS.**
**REGISTERED IDENTITY: EVELYN ASHFORD.**
His face lost what little color it had left.
I looked from the screen to him. "Evelyn Ashford? That's me?"
"Shut up."
"You know that name."
"I said shut up."
The screen expanded, bright enough to throw blue light across his cheekbones.
**CITY CORE ACCESS: GRANTED.**
**DESIGNATION: PRIMARY ADMINISTRATOR.**
**GRAYHAVEN CITY CORE: ACTIVE.**
**CURRENT STATUS: CRITICAL.**
**ESTIMATED COLLAPSE: 6 DAYS, 22 HOURS, 14 MINUTES.**
**PRIMARY ADMINISTRATOR REQUIRED FOR STABILIZATION.**
"What does that mean?" I asked.
He slammed my wrist against the wall above my head.
Pain shot up my arm. His body pinned me in place, his shoulder against mine, his breath warm beside my ear.
"Hold still."
"Get off me."
"If you fight me, you'll make this worse."
"You already have a knife to my throat. How much worse are you planning?"
His mouth tightened. He pulled a ring from his belt. Black metal covered in symbols that seemed to crawl beneath the surface.
"Don't put that on me."
"You don't get a vote."
"Then here's mine." I drove my knee toward his leg.
He turned just enough to take the hit on his thigh. His grip tightened, and the ring snapped around my wrist.
Red symbols flared.
The metal burned into my skin.
I screamed and yanked against him. "Take it off!"
"Stop fighting."
"Take it off!"
"It's a control ring. It keeps you inside the city."
The screen pulsed.
**CONTROL RING DETECTED.**
**ADMINISTRATIVE PRIVILEGES: RESTRICTED.**
**OVERRIDE REQUIRES BLOOD SACRIFICE.**
He read the message. His jaw flexed once.
"Blood sacrifice?" I said. "That your solution to everything?"
"It's the system's requirement."
"You keep blaming a floating computer for your choices."
"You want the ring to release you?"
"I want you to stop burning my arm."
"Then prove the system chose the right person."
The blade flashed before I could move. It punched into my shoulder, shallow but hard enough to steal my breath.
"You son of a—"
"Stay still."
"I will kill you."
"Get in line."
Blood ran hot beneath my collar. He pulled the knife free and held the stained edge over the screen.
The red droplets vanished into blue light.
**BLOOD SACRIFICE ACCEPTED.**
**CITY CORE STABILIZATION PROTOCOL: UNLOCKED.**
**PRIMARY ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS: ACTIVE.**
The ring cooled by one brutal degree.
He released my wrist and stepped back. I pressed my hand over my shoulder, breathing through the pain.
"You're insane," I said.
"Maybe. You're alive."
"You stabbed me to test a menu option."
"I stabbed you because eleven people died and the city has six days left."
"I didn't break your city."
"The system says you're royal blood."
"The system also says I'm Evelyn Ashford, and I have no idea what that means."
For the first time, he looked at me instead of the knife.
His gaze paused on my mouth, then dropped to the blood soaking my shirt. The pause lasted half a second too long.
"You're connected to the old king," he said. "The Voss line ruled Grayhaven before the continent burned."
"I don't know any king."
"You don't have to know him. Your blood knows the core."
"Then ask it nicely."
"You're going to stabilize the city."
"And if I don't?"
He moved close again. Not touching this time. He didn't need to. The knife rested at his side, and the ring glowed against my pulse.
"If you leave me, it stops your heart after a hundred feet," he said. "If the core collapses, Grayhaven goes with it. If you refuse to help, I'll finish what I started."
"That's a lot of threats for a man who needs me alive."
"Don't mistake need for mercy."
"I wouldn't dare."
He turned toward the far wall.
It wasn't a wall. It was a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a city that looked like it had been chewed apart. Towers leaned over empty streets. Fire scars blackened whole blocks. Beyond the outer districts, something huge rolled across the horizon, too dark and wide to be smoke.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Your first problem."
The screen changed.
**WARNING: PERIMETER BREACH DETECTED.**
**SECTOR 7: COMPROMISED.**
**ENTITY CLASSIFICATION: TIDE-CLASS NIGHTMARE.**
**ESTIMATED TIME TO INNER WALL: 4 HOURS, 33 MINUTES.**
"Tide-Class Nightmare?" I said. "That sounds friendly."
"It killed Seattle."
"You said Seattle fell six years ago."
"It did."
"And you think I caused that?"
"I think your bloodline opened the door."
The screen jolted. The number dropped in a blur.
**ESTIMATED TIME TO INNER WALL: 2 HOURS, 18 MINUTES.**
A roar rolled through the chamber. The glass shook beneath my fingertips.
I turned toward the sound. "You said four hours."
"I was wrong."
"That's reassuring."
The warning turned red.
**CORE DEFENSES: OFFLINE.**
**ADMINISTRATOR INPUT REQUIRED.**
He lifted the blade again, but this time he didn't aim it at me. He pointed toward a metal console beneath the window.
"Put your hand on the core panel."
"And if it asks for more blood?"
"Then we'll deal with it."
"No. You deal with it. I'm done being your button."
His eyes locked onto mine. The distance between us narrowed until the heat of him reached my chilled skin.
"You don't understand what happens if you refuse."
"Then explain it."
"The walls fail. The tide reaches the city. Everyone inside dies."
"Including you."
"Including me."
"Good. We finally found something we agree on."
The corner of his mouth twitched, but it wasn't a smile.
Another impact struck the outer wall. Dust shook loose from the ceiling. Somewhere beyond the chamber, alarms began to howl.
The screen flashed one final message.
**SECOND AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE DETECTED.**
**IDENTITY: KINGDOM OF VOSS.**
**STATUS: DECEASED.**
I stared at the words. "The king is dead."
"He died six years ago."
"Then why is the system asking for his signature?"
The man went still.
A lock clanked behind us.
The chamber doors started opening, inch by inch. Cold air shoved through the gap, carrying the stink of seawater and blood.
He stepped in front of me, blade raised.
The screen flickered again.
**AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE APPROACHING.**
I grabbed his sleeve before he could reach the door. "Who the hell is coming?"
He looked at the widening gap, then at the name glowing above my bleeding hand.
"Evelyn," he said, voice suddenly rough, "if that signature belongs to who I think it does, don't let him—"