Chapter 26 · The Ring Says No

The fire hit my chest before I could scream.

One second I was on my knees beside the core, Caden's red thread burning across my palm. The next, a white-hot line punched through my ribs and locked around my heart. My back slammed into the stone. The ring on my finger flashed so hard I saw bone through my hand.

Selene smiled from the other side of the platform. She had Caden's hidden ring on her finger.

"Burn for me, Nora."

The core answered.

Heat tore up my throat. I clawed at the ring, but the metal had sunk into my skin. Somewhere behind me, Milo shouted my name. Caden shouted something else. The sirens swallowed both of them.

Then the platform cracked.

A jagged split ripped between my boots. Red light poured through it, bright and wet, like the city had opened one burning eye beneath us. The whole chamber shook. Dust dropped from the ceiling. Selene stumbled, her smile finally gone.

"You broke the connection," she snapped.

"No kidding," I gasped.

The line around my heart tightened. I couldn't breathe. My fingers went numb. The fire wasn't trying to kill me. That would have been easy.