Chapter 21 · City of Silence

"Don't touch the door." Lyra caught Cane's wrist just as his fingers brushed the black stone.

Her grip was cold. Not normal cold. The kind that slid through his glove and locked around his bones.

Cane looked from her hand to the sealed archway. "You said the city was behind it."

"I said I felt a city. I never said it wanted visitors."

"We're out of air, Lyra."

"Then hold your breath."

"Funny."

"I wasn't joking."

The last of the pressure lamps flickered behind them. Their blue glow shrank across the flooded tunnel, leaving the stone arch almost black. Somewhere beyond the wall, something scraped slowly over rock.

Cane tightened his hand around the harpoon gun. "The gate is closing."

"I know."

"And if it seals?"

"We die here."

"Good talk."

Lyra released his wrist, but her fingers stayed close to his pulse. Her eyes remained fixed on the arch. Black cracks ran from her collar toward her jaw, thin as ink in water. They pulsed once.

The stone answered.

A deep knock rolled through the tunnel.

Cane took one step back. "That came from inside."

"No."

"You heard it."

"I felt it." Her voice dropped.