Chapter 26 · The Price of Memory

"Nora!" Samuel grabbed the back of my coat and hauled me sideways.

The panel exploded where my head had been. Glass and copper pins sprayed across the floor.

I pushed up on one elbow. My ribs felt split open. Deep in my chest, the living core throbbed against bone.

Once.

Twice.

The whole city answered.

Far above, Veyra's lights blazed to life in a blinding wave. Windows. Streetlamps. Lift rails. Factory signs. Every dead line in the city flashed white through the fog.

Then the tower tilted.

I slid across the floor.

Samuel caught my wrist. His other hand pressed to the bullet wound in his side. Blood had soaked through his coat and dripped between his fingers.

"Move," he said.

"Tarin."

"He's behind us. Move now."

A sharp laugh cut through the steam curling off the broken control bank. "Hate to agree with him, but he's right."

Tarin staggered out of the haze, one arm hanging useless at his side. His face was gray, half his hair burned away. He clutched a brass case to his chest.

Evelyn stood behind him.

The council heiress had lost her coat.