Chapter 21 · The Girl in the Core

The voice doesn't stop.

"Kai. Come finish me."

It's coming from the Core. Not through speakers or comms. It's in my head the way the sandstorms are, except this time it's clear. A girl. Young. Maybe my age, maybe younger. I can't tell because I've never heard anyone sound that tired.

I'm still on my knees in the screening hall. The storm outside died when I pulled it into myself and burned it out. Everyone's alive. The reinforced glass held. But my mom's face is gone from my memory now, and I don't even know what I'm supposed to feel about that because I can't picture her anymore.

Ashmark's hand is on my shoulder. "Kai. You good?"

"No."

"Fair." He squeezes once, then lets go. "That voice. You heard it too?"

So it wasn't just in my head. I look up. Half the crowd is staring at the Core chamber behind the observation glass. The other half is staring at me. Steelhook's nowhere in sight, but I can feel his people closing in. Two guards by the north exit. Three more flanking the Core access corridor.

"I heard it," I say.

Ashmark pulls me to my feet.