Chapter 33 · The Bell Under Us

The second bell was coming from below.

Cass could feel it in his teeth, in the bones of his wrists where the ring used to sit. His vision kept doubling, memories that weren't his bleeding through the edges. He'd been a girl once. He'd failed this exam six different ways. He'd kissed Mara in a courtyard that didn't exist anymore.

Mara's hand locked around his elbow. "Don't you dare fade on me now."

"Not planning on it." His voice came out thinner than he wanted. The Grand Hall floor was cracked open where the first bell had died, steam or smoke or something worse rising from the split. Seraphina was gone. Most of the council had scattered when the ring shattered. Nix was somewhere behind them, shouting something about structural integrity, but Cass couldn't make out the words over the ringing.

Mara pulled him toward the fissure. Her fingers were warm. His were going numb.

"You still with me?" she asked.

"Yeah." He wasn't sure if that was true. The borrowed memories were burning out one by one, and every time one went dark he forgot a death.