Chapter 16 · Something Woke Up First

Rowan opened his eyes and Mara was already pinning him to the floor.

"Nine minutes," she said. Her knuckles were white around his collar. "You went back nine minutes. What the hell did you see?"

He tried to breathe. Her knee was on his ribs and the stone under his back was cold enough to feel through his shirt. The forge was still roaring. Pip was yelling something about pressure valves. The core—Crowe's loop anchor, the thing they'd been trying to crack for three resets—was shrieking like a trapped animal.

"I saw you burn," Rowan said.

Mara didn't let go. "And?"

"I saw the core eat you. Then it ate me. Then I woke up and you were already on top of me."

Her eyes narrowed. "I remember it."

"What?"

"I remember burning." She let go of his collar but didn't move off him. "I shouldn't. I'm not the loop-holder. But I felt it. The fire. Your hand. You wouldn't let go."

Rowan's chest hurt and it wasn't just her knee. "You weren't supposed to remember."

"Yeah, well." Mara shoved herself off him and stood. "The rules changed. Get up."

He got up. His bruises were back.