Chapter 10 · Interrogation in the Storm

"Don't move."

Lyra's hand locked around my arm before I could stand. Her shield flickered blue around us, cracked like broken glass. Rain hammered the breach in the wall. The air tasted like copper and wet stone.

"I wasn't planning to," I said.

"You were planning to pretend you can walk."

"That's different."

Her mouth twitched. Then the chamber shook again and the smile died.

Pip crouched by the shattered control panel, antlers glowing weak. Smoke curled off its fur. Blood ran down one foreleg and disappeared into the dust.

My chest tightened. "Pip."

The storm-antler lifted its head. A spark jumped between its teeth. It made a low, pissed-off sound and shoved its nose against my knee.

"I'm fine," I muttered.

Pip bit my coat.

"Apparently neither of us is fine."

Lyra looked between us. "You have a talent for understatement."

"It's a survival skill."

"No. It's a terrible habit."

A boom rolled across the basin. The island lurched. Stone screamed under our feet.

Lyra tightened her grip. "We need to leave. Now."

I glanced at the map. Red points crawled across it like infection. The Brineveil Basin wasn't the only danger anymore.