Chapter 11 · Untitled Chapter

"She's already there." Jude's voice cut through the comm static. "Second level. East shaft."

Lyra didn't stop running. "How long?"

"Two minutes forty."

"The blast went off at twelve."

"Not this time." His breathing stayed even, too calm for someone sprinting beside her. "Drake moved the schedule. Mara's got the trigger."

Lyra took the next landing in two strides. Her boots hammered the grated stairs. Copper coated her tongue. Burnt ozone stung the back of her throat.

The reactor deck waited three flights below, red emergency lights flashing across the open blast door.

"Jude, what exactly did Drake change?"

"She put Mara over the cooling lines. If that device fires, the reactor ruptures with it."

Lyra hit the final landing. "And you waited until now to mention that?"

"You were busy running."

She shoved through the blast door.

Mara stood in the middle of the catwalk, one hand pressed against the rail and the other wrapped around a gray metal trigger. The reactor hummed below her feet. The vibration climbed through Lyra's boots and made her teeth ache.

"Mara." Lyra slowed. Her hand found her sidearm, then stopped. "Step away from the rail."

"Can't." Mara's voice shook.