Chapter 34 · Weld Marks of Memory

The maintenance lift dropped through the tower like a stone through black water.

Every jolt drove a fresh blade of pain beneath Eli’s ribs. He kept one hand clamped over the wound and the other wrapped around Sera’s waist, though she had stopped pretending she could stand on her own. Blood had soaked through the side of her white jacket and painted his fingers warm.

“Let go,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Sure.”

He tightened his grip as the lift shuddered again.

Sera’s shoulder struck his chest. Her breath caught, but she didn’t complain. She had a talent for turning agony into an insult. Even now, with three bullet holes beneath her ribs and one sleeve dark with blood, she looked less like a dying woman than a queen refusing to leave her throne politely.

Above them, the tower groaned.

A distant explosion rolled down the shaft. Dust sifted from the ceiling. Emergency lights flashed red, then died, leaving only the scarlet glow leaking from beneath Eli’s skin.

It pulsed along his forearms in thin branching lines.

Not fire. Not exactly.

The ember moved like something alive, tasting the air through him.