Chapter 24 · The Core Wakes

"Take your hand off the Core, Sera." Kael caught her wrist before the black surface could swallow her fingers.

The bond snapped tight between them. Pain flashed up her arm, hot and sharp, and the old image inside her skull stuttered. Young Kael. The surgical table. The girl strapped beneath the lights.

His hand locked around her wrist.

"Let go."

"Not while it's inside your head."

"You don't get to decide what goes inside my head." She twisted hard, drove her elbow toward his ribs, and felt him take the hit with a grunt. "You already made that choice once."

Kael shoved her back from the Core. Her shoulders struck a cracked support column. Dust spilled from above. Somewhere beyond the broken archive chamber, Oren's soldiers shouted and boots hammered over the metal floors.

The city shook again.

Kael planted one arm beside her head and leaned in. His breath brushed her cheek, warm against the cold dust on her skin. Blood ran from a cut near his brow and disappeared beneath his collar.

"The Core is waking," he said. "If you touch it again, it won't show you a memory. It will use you as a door."

"Good.