Chapter 7 · The Voice in the Shard

“Get your hand off that shard.”

Marlow’s fingers locked around the blackglass fragment. A thin red line opened across his palm, but he didn’t let go.

“Take it from me, then,” he said.

Eli moved first. He caught Marlow’s wrist and twisted hard enough to drive him against the iron table. The shard flashed between them. Heat punched through Eli’s chest, straight into the crack burned beneath his ribs.

Marlow grinned through his teeth. “Careful, Voss. You break my hand, the voice gets louder.”

“Let go.” Sera’s pistol pressed against Eli’s spine. “Both of you. Now.”

Eli froze.

Marlow looked past him at Sera. “You brought a gun to a conversation?”

“I brought a gun because Eli has a habit of turning conversations into explosions.”

“That tower was already going to blow.”

“Tell that to the forty-three people still missing.”

Eli shoved Marlow away and spun. Sera stood less than two feet from him, one hand on her weapon, the other wrapped around the black cord linking their wrists. Their shared pact-mark pulsed under her glove.

The cord pulled tight when he stepped back.

Sera’s gaze dropped to it. “Don’t test the distance.