Chapter 27 · Eclipse

Sera had her gun pressed under Commander Hale’s jaw, and somehow he was the calmest man in the room.

That was the first thing that told me we were screwed.

Behind him, six Vesper Court soldiers poured through the broken blast door with rifles up. Behind them, something huge slammed into the other side of the door hard enough to shake dust from the ceiling.

Julian’s chains rattled above the gears.

My father kept his gun aimed at Julian’s ribs. Not Sera. Not Hale. Julian.

Of course he did.

“Everybody relax,” Hale said.

Sera dug the barrel harder into the soft spot under his chin. “You first.”

He smiled a little. “You’ve always had a dramatic streak, Quinn.”

“Shut up.”

“You called the Court here.” I kept my eyes on the soldiers. “You brought them straight to us.”

Sera didn’t look at me. “I brought the override key. They followed the signal.”

“That supposed to make me feel better?”

“No.”

Fair.

The gears under Evan groaned again. Big iron teeth turned below his dangling boots. Slow. Steady.