Chapter 25 · The Last Hour

"Don't touch it."

Mara's hand stopped two inches from the cable bundle. The core hummed louder, like it knew she was close.

"I'm not asking," she said.

"You rip those out and the whole grid goes dark," Jace said. "We don't know what happens when it loses power."

"We know what happens if we leave it running." She wrapped her fingers around the thickest cable. "More people disappear. More nights get eaten. You want to wait until it takes the whole city?"

Jace pressed his palm against the concrete wall. The cold bit through his skin, sharp enough to remind him this was real, this was now, this was the hour they couldn't waste. The core sat in the center of the room like a cracked-open heart, cables spilling out in every direction, screens blinking red countdowns he couldn't read fast enough.

"Silas built a kill switch," he said. "Nia said there's a key sequence. We do it clean, we might get everyone back."

"Might." Mara yanked the cable free. Sparks sprayed across the floor. The lights overhead flickered, dimmed, then snapped back brighter than before. "How's that for clean?"

The core screamed.

Not a machine sound. Not a alarm.