Chapter 16 · Four Golden Eyes

"Cut the chains, Cassian, or the heat takes us with them!" Lyra grabbed the front of his coat and shoved him away from the glowing reactor spine.

The deck jumped under their boots. A white-gold blast punched through the cracked chamber, throwing sparks across the iron walls. Cassian caught himself on one hand, his glove smoking.

"You said the pulse would last three seconds." He looked at her through the glare. "That was six seconds ago."

"Then stop counting and move!"

Brant's voice ripped through the brass speaking tube above them. "Captain! The seawall's still open. I can see the trench below, and I really wish I couldn't!"

Cassian pushed up. Heat shoved against his face. Every breath tasted like burnt oil and metal.

The reactor spine stood in the center of the chamber, half buried in black machinery. Five iron chains wrapped around it. Each chain was as thick as Cassian's arm, and every link glowed red where the cracked core pressed against the metal.

Something moved beneath the broken seawall.

Not water. Not rock.

A long shape slid past the breach, too large for Cassian's eyes to follow. The pressure made the walls groan.