Chapter 15 · The Brass Oath - Chapter 15: Gear Maze

"Move, Mara! The wall is coming down!"

Cain grabbed the back of her coat and yanked her out of the gear's path.

A brass wheel the size of a carriage rolled through the corridor where she had been standing. Its teeth chewed through stone. Dust blasted across Mara's face, and she hit Cain hard enough to knock the air out of both of them.

"Get your hands off me!"

"You want to argue, or do you want to keep breathing?"

"I can do both."

"Not for long."

The floor jumped under their boots. Somewhere behind them, metal screamed against metal. The tunnel had turned into a shifting maze of gears, broken walls, and narrow gaps that kept snapping shut.

Cain shoved Mara toward a split in the passage.

She caught herself on the wall. "That one goes left."

"You sure?"

"No. I just enjoy watching you pick the dangerous path."

Another gear slammed into the corridor behind them. Cain's hand closed around her waist, dragging her through the opening before the teeth could catch her coat.

His chest hit her back. Heat pressed through two layers of cloth.