Chapter 14 · The Hand Behind the Blackout

"Move!"

Nia caught Kellan by the coat and yanked him sideways. The thing behind him hit the floor hard enough to crack it.

Its body burst into strips of film and black dust. Dozens of stolen mouths opened along its chest, each one screaming in a different voice.

Kellan slammed into the wall. "Nia—"

"Stay behind me."

She shoved him back and planted herself between him and the crawling mass.

"Great plan," Tavi yelled from the control dais. "The floor's splitting open, the walls are screaming, and that thing just grew twelve mouths."

The mass lifted its head. No face filled the torn film. Only a smooth black hollow.

A dead man's voice whispered from it. "Nia."

Her stomach tightened. "It doesn't have a face."

"That's what you're worried about?"

The core room bucked. White cracks raced beneath Nia's boots as heat punched through the soles.

At the chamber's center, the forbidden ember floated between her and Elias. It was only fist-sized, but the room bent around it. Red-gold fire dragged whispers from the walls.

*Run.*

*Hide.*

*Forget.*

The last voice belonged to Elias.

He stood beside the open furnace with one hand clamped over his chest.