Chapter 14 · Under the Forge

The air down here tastes like burnt metal and fear.

Kade presses his back against the slick tunnel wall, chest tight, listening to the mechanical roar beyond the next bend. It's louder now. Closer. Mira's broken badge is still in her hand, the two halves catching the pale light from the rune marks crawling up the stone. She doesn't look at him. Just stares at the glow ahead like she's memorizing it for a report she'll never file.

"We go quiet," she says. "In and out. No core."

Kade's palm burns. The black rune under his skin pulses, lazy and warm, like it knows she's lying. Like it knows they're both lying.

"Sure," he says.

She moves first. Low and smooth, blade out, shoulders angled to keep her profile small. He follows, boots scraping softer than hers because the soles are falling apart. The tunnel opens into a wider space, and the heat hits him like a hand to the face. Sweat beads on his neck. The roar splits into layers—hammers, grinding wheels, something hissing like a wounded animal.

The forge.

It's bigger than he thought.