Chapter 30 · Flesh and Fusion

"Get your hands off the ram controls!" Cassian caught Lyra around the waist and hauled her back from the red-hot lever.

She drove an elbow into his ribs.

He grunted, but his grip tightened. "You touch that lever, the whole prow cooks."

"Good. Then hold me tighter and stop pretending you care."

The ironclad bucked beneath them. Somewhere below, a depth charge hit the water hard enough to lift the ship out of the trench. Bolts jumped in the walls. The lamps blinked. A warning bell screamed three times, then died.

Cassian shoved Lyra against the steering cage. Her back struck the steel. His face stopped inches from hers, close enough for her to feel the heat rolling off his skin.

"I care about keeping my ship in one piece," he said.

"Your ship is already dying."

"Not yet."

"Then listen to the engine."

The deck vibrated under their boots. The kinetic ram below the bow gave a deep, hungry pulse. It was supposed to draw power from the sun-core fragment mounted behind the pressure shield. The shield was cracked. The coolant lines were bleeding steam. The ram was charging anyway.

Lyra lifted her chin.