Chapter 12 · The Dawn Key

The arena died in layers.

First, the floodlights went black. Then the cheering speakers coughed out a final burst of static and fell silent. Last came the machines—the metal guardians, the electrified gates, the steel jaws that had tried to tear Eve Marr apart—shuddering as amber light crawled through their seams.

The light did not come from the arena.

It came from her.

Eve stood barefoot in a shallow pool of rainwater and coolant, her boots somewhere beneath the wreckage. Amber veins glowed beneath the skin of her palms. Every breath pulled heat through her ribs. With each heartbeat, the entire underground complex answered.

Boom.

A pipe burst high above.

Boom.

The dead screens along the walls flickered awake, filling with lines of code.

Boom.

A circular door at the far end of the arena unlocked with a sound like a mountain breaking open.

Cain Rook collapsed against the broken control pillar. Blood ran from beneath his vest and vanished into the dark water around his knees. One hand pressed hard against the wound in his side.