Chapter 70 · The Name the Tower Knows

"Mara! Let go of that seal!"

I tore the forged council seal off the core.

The silver strip came away with a hot snap. Fire bit into my fingers, but I held on. Black ink spilled across my palm, twisting into letters as it tried to burrow under my skin.

Ronan jerked against the chains at the center of the ring. Moon-metal cuffs had cut through his sleeves. Blood ran down both wrists and vanished into the grooves beneath him.

"You first," I shouted.

"I'm not the one attached to the city's flood grid!"

"No. You're just the man who slapped a fake council seal on it and expected me not to notice."

His jaw locked. "That seal was keeping the lower gates shut."

"It was stealing control from me."

"Because the tower was trying to kill you!"

The core bucked between us.

Blue-white light ripped through the chamber. The platform dropped hard, slamming my knees into the iron floor.

Ronan yanked against his chains. Iron shrieked as it tore through stone.

"Mara, get behind me!"

"You can't even stand."

"I can stand long enough to take the blast."

"And then what?