Chapter 14 · The Living Signature

"Don't touch the core." Sera caught my wrist before my hand reached the blackglass ring.

The engine screamed through the floor.

Her fingers locked around me, hot against the cold burn crawling under my skin. The crown-shaped crack across my chest pulsed once. Twice. Each pulse answered the machine.

"Let go," I said.

"You heard me. Step back."

"Nia's collar is counting down."

"And the engine is looking for a body. Yours, if you keep standing there."

Behind the glass wall, Nia jerked against the restraints. The court collar around her neck flashed red. The numbers had stopped at three seconds, but the light kept blinking like the system had forgotten how to finish killing her.

Or how to start.

I pulled against Sera's grip. She moved with me instead of fighting the motion, turning my arm behind my back and driving me into the metal frame beside the core.

My shoulder struck hard.

"You always put people against walls when you're worried?" I asked.

"Only the ones trying to get themselves killed."

"Then you're going to need a bigger wall."

Her body pressed close enough that I felt the heat through both our coats.