Chapter 35 · Crown of Fire

"You miss that cable, and we all fall into the dark." Lyra's hand slammed against Cassian's chest as the scrap platform lurched beneath them. "So stop aiming with your eyes and listen to me."

Cassian caught her wrist before she could pull away. His glove closed around her arm, hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to break. The platform bucked again. Loose plates skittered toward the edge and vanished into the black sea thousands of feet below.

"I am listening," he said.

"No. You're being stubborn. There's a difference."

"You noticed?"

"I noticed when your cannon blew a hole through the last piece of floor keeping us alive."

Behind them, the broken ironclad groaned. Half the vessel had been ripped open by the ram attack. Steam poured from the torn engine housing, white and violent, while burning cables snapped across the deck like angry whips.

Brant staggered out of the steam with one arm wrapped around his ribs and a pistol in the other. His beard was singed. One eyebrow was missing.

"Good news," he shouted. "The reactor is dead!"

Cassian looked toward the shattered dreadnought looming above them.