Chapter 25 · Reverse Devour

"Let go." My hand's flat on the core, burning. "Carson, let go."

"Not a chance." His arm's locked across my chest, pulling me back. The sword clattered to the floor when he grabbed me. "You're not doing this."

"It's already done." The screen's flashing red. Countdown started the second my palm touched the surface. Sixty seconds. "You can't stop it now."

"Then I'll pull you off before it finishes."

"You'll kill everyone here." I can feel the core drinking. Not blood this time. Something deeper. Marrow-deep. "The protocol needs a full cycle or the city walls collapse."

Mira's voice cuts in from somewhere behind us. "How long?"

"Fifty seconds." The numbers are burning into my vision. "Get to the lower wards. Make sure the evacuation routes are clear."

"I'm not leaving you with him."

"Go!" I can't turn my head. The core's got hooks in me now, pulling. "If this goes wrong, they'll need someone who knows the exits."

Footsteps. Running. The door slams.

Carson's breath is hot against my ear. "What happens at zero?"

"Reverse devour." My voice sounds far away. "The core takes what it needs to purge the tide."

"Takes what? Blood?"

"Everything." Forty seconds.