Chapter 10 · Beneath Gray Harbor

"Keep your hand on the wound, Mara. If you pull away, you bleed out."

Julian shoved my palm against his side and pinned it there with his own hand.

His blood soaked through my glove. Warm. Slick. Too much of it.

"Take your hand off me."

"No."

"I said—"

"I heard you." His jaw tightened. "I also heard your pulse jumping. Unless you want to pass out in the next thirty seconds, keep pressure."

The security room shook when another blast hit somewhere above us. Dust dropped from the ceiling tiles. The monitors flashed white, then went black one by one.

Gray Harbor was losing power.

Of course it was.

I pressed harder against Julian's ribs. He sucked in a sharp breath, but he didn't move away. His shoulder stayed wedged against mine, his body blocking the open doorway while Nia crouched beneath the main console with three laptops balanced on her knees.

"That was the east generator," Nia said. "They cut the backup line."

"How long?" Julian asked.

"Until what? We all die or the system comes back?"

"Nia."

"Five minutes if I can force the grid reset. Two if Celeste's people reach the lower floors.