Chapter 26 · You stepped in front of it

"You stepped in front of it."

"Because you were standing there."

The room shook so hard that my teeth clicked together. Pieces of the ceiling rained down. I pulled Lena against my chest and turned my back to the falling metal.

Her arms came around me for balance. Her forehead touched my collarbone.

"Milo," she said, quieter now. "You need to cut the bond."

"You said that kills him."

"It might."

"Might?"

"I do not have a better word."

"You have a whole Guild vocabulary. Use it."

She pushed away from me. Her face had gone pale, but she stayed upright.

"The bond is not feeding the engine anymore," she said. "It is holding something inside it."

I looked at Bram. "What is holding him?"

"You are."

"That makes no sense."

"Your blood pattern is acting like a lock. Bram is the key the engine used to open it."

"Then how do I unlock it?"

"You do not. You reverse the mark."

"How?"

"With a living imprint."

"Mine?"

"Unless you have another gearwright hiding in your pocket."

Another blast ripped through the far wall. The outer gate burst open. Black-armored Guild soldiers poured into the corridor beyond, their rifles raised.