Chapter 20 · Untitled Chapter

"You're going to kill him."

Mina's voice cut across the wire room as Jace's hand closed around the last relay switch. The copper lines burning through his skull screamed so loudly his teeth rattled.

"I'm trying to keep him alive," he said. "Move."

"Get your hand off that switch."

He didn't. The relay fed power from the core straight into the tower's basement grid. Pull it, and the overload might stop. Leave it, and the whole system would open for Gideon.

Kai's life support ran through that same grid.

Mina crossed the room, boots scraping concrete. Her med kit hung open at her hip, and one hand disappeared inside it.

"What is it this time?" Jace asked. "Another sedative?"

"If you give me a reason, I'll use it."

"You always this friendly when somebody's about to die?"

"You don't know what that switch does."

"Then tell me."

Her fingers tightened around whatever she was holding. "It's not just a power relay. It's part of the seal. If you break the link, the backlash runs through every medical node in the city."

Jace looked at her. "Your brother's on one of those nodes.