Chapter 13 · The Second Countdown

"Get your hand off that lever, Eli."

Sera's voice hit him from behind, sharp enough to cut through the engine room alarms.

Eli kept his fingers wrapped around the brass handle. The blackglass engine shook under the grated floor, throwing blue sparks through the seams. Below them, gears the size of wagons spun around a core of dark fire.

"You want me to let go?" he called. "Sure. Great plan. You can explain to the city why its emergency engine just ate half the district."

"The engine is already unstable."

"Then stop aiming a weapon at my back and help me stabilize it."

The muzzle pressed harder between his shoulder blades.

"You don't give orders here," Sera said.

"Funny. You keep following them."

Her breath touched the side of his neck. Warm. Controlled. Too close for someone holding a loaded court pistol.

Eli glanced at the cracked panel in front of him. Three brass needles jumped across the red zone.