Chapter 26 · Warmth of a Lie

"Don't move." Lyra's hand slammed against my chest before my boot could leave the cracked stone.

The floor dropped three inches under us.

I caught her wrist and dragged her against me as another section sank with a grinding snap. Her shoulder hit my ribs. Her breath punched out against my throat, hot and shaky, while black water rushed through the widening seams below our feet.

"You said this chamber was safe," I said.

"I said it was sealed. I didn't say safe."

"That's a pretty important difference."

"Complain after we stop falling."

The dead diver's body slid across the far side of the chamber. His boots scraped once, then vanished into the dark gap where the floor had broken open.

My father's crest flashed on the dead man's breastplate before the water swallowed him.

I grabbed the edge of a stone pillar with one hand and kept hold of Lyra with the other. Her fingers dug into my coat. Not hard enough to hurt. Hard enough to tell me she wasn't letting go.

"Cane," she said, staring down. "The marks are moving.