Chapter 22 · The Brass Oath - Chapter 22: Blood Resonance

"Move, Mara!" Cain shoved her behind a stone support column as a bolt of blue fire tore through the tunnel where her head had been.

The blast punched sparks from the wall. Dust slapped her face. Cain's shoulder hit the column beside hers, hard enough to make the brass oath in her chest flare hot.

"You shoved me into a wall."

"You are welcome."

"I was dodging."

"You were standing there arguing with a death machine."

Another bolt screamed past them. Cain leaned out, fired twice, and ducked back before the hunters could answer. His pistol coughed smoke into the narrow tunnel.

Mara grabbed his coat and yanked him lower. "How many?"

"Enough."

"That is not a number."

"Six in the front passage. Maybe more behind us."

"And you brought me into this hole because...?"

Cain glanced at her. His eyes were hard, but his breathing had gone rough. Blood ran from a cut along his temple and disappeared under his collar.

"Because the Council sealed every exit except one."

Mara looked past him. The tunnel behind them had collapsed beneath a slab of broken masonry.