Chapter 29 · Reset Starts Now

The node's screaming.

Kade can feel it through the floor, through the air, through the black rune burning a hole in his ribs. The whole tower's shaking like it's trying to tear itself apart from the inside.

Mira's on her knees next to him, blood running down her temple, her hands working at the chain wrapped around his wrists. Her fingers are shaking. She's not looking at him.

"Got it," she says, and the chain drops.

Kade's hands are free.

He flexes his fingers. The rune flares hot under his skin, hungry, waiting. He can feel the node two floors down, pulsing like a heartbeat, already cracking open. Drake's reset sequence is live. The entire ward network is about to reboot, and when it does, every screen in Ashgate is going to light up with Kade's face and the black rune they've been told will kill them all.

Mira stands. Her sword's gone. Her armor's cracked across the shoulder. She's looking at the door, then at him.

"We go down," she says. "Hit the node before it locks. You break it, the reset stops."

Kade gets to his feet. His legs are still shaking from the last hit.