Chapter 25 · Ten Seconds Live

The water's black and it's everywhere. Can't tell which way is up. Leah's grip on my wrist is the only thing that feels real. And the countdown. Nine seconds. I can hear it in my head like my stream timer but louder, like it's coming from the walls, from the water itself.

"Let go." Leah's voice cuts through. She's close. Too close. Gun's still in her other hand, I can feel the metal bumping my ribs. "Ivy, let go of me."

"No." My lungs burn. We're sinking. The Moonwell doesn't feel like water anymore. Feels thicker. Alive. "You jump, I jump, remember? That's what you said."

Eight seconds.

Something glows beneath us. Not light. Wrong color for light. It's the same blue-white from my stream alerts, from the moon through my window on bad nights. From Mom's eyes in that photo Cole showed me.

"The city," Leah says. She's not fighting me anymore. "Ivy, the whole city. It's watching."

She's right. I can feel it. Not just feel it—I can hear it. Notifications. Thousands of them. Pinging in my skull like I left Discord open at full volume. My stream.