Chapter 28 · No More Resets

"You're not in the cell."

Vex's voice cut through the dark before I could register where I was. Stone under my boots. Cold air that didn't smell like blood and rust. I spun, and he was leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, that same infuriating smirk on his face.

"Where—"

"The core chamber," he said. "Under the Pits. You forced Halrik's confession, the broadcast went out, and the loop tried to reset. Except you're standing here instead of waking up in your cell. Congratulations. You broke it."

My chest tightened. The blood blade was still in my hand, warm and pulsing. "I didn't break anything. The day reset. It always resets."

"Not this time." He pushed off the pillar and walked toward me, boots echoing. "The core's been feeding on your deaths for weeks. Every reset, every loop, it stored the energy. Halrik's confession cracked the structure. Now it's unstable."

"Unstable how?"

"Unstable as in it's going to implode and take half the city with it unless someone shuts it down." He stopped three feet away, close enough that I could see the flicker of red light reflected in his eyes.