Chapter 6 · Blood in the Brine

"Cut the port ballast, or this coffin rolls!" Cassian slammed one hand against the bucking control rail. "Brant, I said cut it!"

"The valve is welded shut!" Brant shouted from below the engine cage. "You want it cut, come down here and kiss the torch!"

The ironclad lurched hard to starboard. Lyra hit the bulkhead shoulder-first, caught herself on a pipe, and bit down before the pain could make a sound. Behind the armored view slit, boiling black water flashed white around the hull.

Something moved in that foam.

Not a wave. Not debris.

Three red heat signatures streaked along the submarine’s flank, keeping pace with the dying engines.

Cassian grabbed the back of Lyra’s coat before the next roll threw her across the deck. His fingers locked around her waist. His palm was hot through the soaked fabric, rough and steady while the deck tried to kill them both.

"Let go," she snapped.

"Stand up first."

"I can stand."

"Then prove it."

She drove her elbow backward. It caught his ribs. Cassian grunted but didn’t release her.