Chapter 9 · Clockwork Hounds

"Move, Kael. Now." Sloane's hand locked around my collar and slammed me away from the control panel.

The resonance cage snapped shut where my fingers had been. Blue-white energy punched through the metal bars and blew a hole in the floor.

I hit the Foundry wall hard enough to bite my tongue. Copper flooded my mouth.

"My father is still in there."

"And you'll be dead beside him if you touch that panel again." Sloane shoved the barrel of her antique rifle under my chin. Her breath came fast, warm against my cheek. "You want to save him? Stop making me choose between you and a corpse."

"You don't get to choose anything for me."

"I do when your life is tied to mine."

The mark at the back of my neck burned.

Not hot. Worse. It felt like a wire pulled straight through bone.

Victor's voice slid through the pain, calm and close.

*You finally came home, Kael.*

I grabbed Sloane's wrist. "Get out of my head."

Her eyes narrowed. "That wasn't me."

*Your father has been waiting for you.*

The cage trembled.