Chapter 25 · The City Holds Its Breath

"One of you stays. One of you goes. Simple math, really."

Seline didn't look like she was in a crisis. She was leaning against a marble pillar, eyes hooded, looking clinicaly bored. Around them, the city was a nightmare of wax. A thousand citizens caught mid-scream, frozen in a silent, jagged, street-wide massacre.

"What do you mean, 'one of us stays'?" Mara snapped.

She tried to yank her hand away from Cael’s, but her fingers were sluggish. Like she was fighting through syrup.

"The Thirteenth Bell requires a toll, Mara. You know the rites." Seline stepped forward. *Click. Click. Click.* Her heels were the only sound in the dead world. "The loop is broken, but the exit is locked. To open the door, someone has to strike the final note. And that note needs a soul to anchor it. A bell-warden’s heart, specifically."

Cael stepped in front of her, his shoulder a wall of muscle blocking Seline from view.

"She’s not doing it," Cael said. "Find another way."

Seline laughed. It was a short, sharp sound. "There is no other way, Commander Rook. Unless you want to volunteer? Though I suspect your soul isn't nearly as... resonant... as hers.