Chapter 20 · You knew what they were doing to me?

"Do it!"

"You knew what they were doing to me?"

Oren wrenched free and fired again.

Sera grabbed the control line with her bare hand.

The charge ripped through her arm. She screamed and forced the current toward the core.

Kael staggered as the bond dragged the overload out of his chest. His body jerked. Smoke curled from the seam of his coat.

"Kael!"

"Keep going!"

"You're burning out!"

"I said keep going!"

"You don't get to die because you feel guilty!"

"Then stop talking and save me!"

The core answered.

A black pulse rolled through the chamber and slammed into the walls. Oren's soldiers dropped their rifles. Mira flew backward into the console. The floor split beneath Sera's boots.

Kael reached for her.

She caught his hand.

Their palms locked. Heat and cold crashed together. The charge surged through both of them, then poured into the buried engine beneath the city.

For one breath, everything held.

Then the relay went silent.

Kael collapsed against Sera.

She caught him before his head hit the floor. His weight dragged her down, but his eyes stayed open.

"Still alive?" he murmured.

"Unfortunately."

"You sound disappointed."

"I have questions."

"Of course you do."