Chapter 20 · Who Gets Out

"Get your hands off me — get Lily out of here!"

Carson's voice rips down the crumbling corridor. He's not looking at me. He's staring at the slab crushing his legs into the floor.

The blood-bind screams between us. Hot wire yanking my chest every time he gasps. I feel his ribs crushing inside my own.

"I'm not leaving you to be a pancake in some basement!" I dig my boots into the grit, grab the edge of that concrete. "Help me push, you idiot!"

"Look up, Evelyn!" he roars.

I look up. The ceiling's split wide open. Hairline cracks webbing everywhere, shedding dust like gray snow.

Ten feet away, Lily's pinned. Smaller beam, but she's barely breathing. Pale. Eyes fluttering.

"Go. Now," Carson says. Flat. Cold. That heir-of-the-cartel voice that makes me wanna hit him and kiss him at the same time. "You can't lift this. You can barely lift your own ego."

"Screw your math and screw your ego!" I lunge, grab his collar, yank him to me. No space left. Nothing.

Blood and ozone hit my nose. Sharp. Metallic. His breath's hot on my cheek.