Chapter 16 · The Names in the Sky

"You can't kill it without killing me," Jude said.

Lyra's blade pressed against his chest. Behind him, the core throbbed red, its hum climbing through the walls. Two floors below, her sister was bleeding out. The station shook beneath their boots.

Jude didn't even look at the knife. He closed his hand around Lyra's wrist, slow and steady, his thumb settling over the scar beneath her sleeve.

"Then I kill both," Lyra said.

"And it starts over."

"You keep saying that."

"Because you keep pointing that thing at my heart."

She pushed the blade a fraction deeper. His shirt tore. A bright line of blood appeared beneath the steel.

His pulse stayed maddeningly calm under her fingers.

"Give me one reason not to finish it," she said.

"Your sister. Your squad. Everyone in this station."

The core gave a violent pulse. Red light crawled over Jude's face.

"Don't use them to scare me."

"I'm not." His grip tightened. "Look at the casing."

Lyra glanced past him.

A thin ring of light circled the core. One section flashed white, then went dark.

"That's new," she said.

"It appeared after the last reset."

"The last one?"

"The one you remember.