Chapter 17 · Four Golden Eyes

"Brace for impact!" Lyra shouted as the forward deck slammed upward beneath their boots.

Cassian caught her by the waist before the next jolt threw her into the gun housing. Her back hit his chest. His arm locked around her ribs, hard enough to bruise through her coat.

"Let go," she snapped.

"When the floor stops trying to kill you."

"Then you’ll be holding me all night."

"Keep talking and I’ll make it happen."

A roar rolled through the ironclad. Not from the engines. From outside.

The leviathan’s solar breath struck the port side.

Every bolt in the hull screamed.

Brant Thorne flew across the command deck and hit the throttle station shoulder-first. Steam burst from a split pipe beside his head.

"We’re empty!" he yelled. "Main boilers are dead, reserve tanks are coughing blood, and we’ve got one shot left in the starboard battery!"

Cassian shoved Lyra behind the armored chart table. "One shot at what?"

"Whatever you point it at."

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s the only one I’ve got!"

The ship rolled again. Cassian’s hand hit the table beside Lyra’s face.