Chapter 16 · The Door Beneath the Throne

The floor dropped beneath them.

Marlow screamed once, more from surprise than pain, and vanished into the dark. Sera caught the edge of the relay platform with one hand. Her other hand locked around Eli’s wrist hard enough to bruise.

The chamber lurched. Ancient pipes tore loose from the ceiling, vomiting steam and black water. Somewhere below, gears the size of buildings began to turn.

Eli’s boots slid toward the broken edge.

Sera’s shoulder slammed against the platform. The impact drove the air from her lungs, but she did not let go. Her silver hair whipped across her face as the tunnel filled with dust and the copper stink of ruptured power lines.

‘Eli!’

‘I’m here.’

It was a lie. His voice came from too far away, dragged thin by the roar beneath them. His fingers were slipping from hers. Beneath his skin, the ember pulsed like a second heart, each beat sending scarlet light through the cracks in his gloves.

Below, the old hunter machines crawled across the collapsing walls. Their limbs punched through stone.