Chapter 52 · Try honest

"Try honest."

His mouth flattened. "It could kill us both."

The siren climbed higher.

I pushed away from him and stepped onto the center ring. The platform lit beneath my boots. A thin column of blue light rose from the core and struck the bond mark under my collarbone.

My whole body jerked.

Kade reached for me. "Get off the ring."

"No."

"Evelyn, get off."

"You said I have authority."

"I said the system recognizes you. I didn't say it would spare you."

"It doesn't have to spare me."

The interface unfolded in front of my face. Lines of code raced past too quickly to read. Then the kill line appeared.

BURN CORE. CONFIRM SOURCE. ENTER IDENTITY.

Kade stared at the last command. "Don't enter your name."

"Why?"

"Because the core will bind the kill command to your body."

"That is the point."

"No. The point is to shut it down, not let the Crown turn you into a second core."

"If I don't do this, Jace dies."

"If you do it wrong, you die with him."

"You keep saying that like it's supposed to change my mind."

He stepped onto the ring.

The light snapped toward him.