Chapter 10 · A Ticket Cast by No Shadow

The second heartbeat stopped before Lin could decide whether it had come from Nara or from the room.

For one impossible second, the control chamber held its breath. Rain ticked against the high windows. Black water crawled over the floor in thin, searching fingers. The opened coat hung from Soren Pike's hand, its inner lining trembling as though someone were trapped beneath the cloth.

Then the voice spoke again.

Complete her.

It came out in Lin's voice.

Her stomach twisted. She stepped backward until her shoulder struck the brass cabinet behind her. The old watch inside rattled against its glass. Not now, she thought. Not another prophecy. Not another dead thing borrowing the living.

Nara swayed in front of her. One hand pressed against her chest. Beneath her soaked shirt, something beat once—hard enough to lift the fabric—then again, out of rhythm with the pulse in her throat.

A gold light flared beyond the windows.

Across the river, the first Glasswater lantern rose from the dark. It was no larger than a child's fist, but its glow spread over the rain in a perfect golden road. Every drop it touched turned transparent.