Chapter 27 · Dawn After the Ninth

"Drop it, Lena!"

Cade’s voice tore through the square just as white chains yanked him backward. He slammed against the cracked stone of the execution platform with a sickening thud.

I didn't drop it. I tightened my grip on the city core.

It burned. Not heat—something worse. It felt like a thousand invisible hands pressing into my bones, trying to rip every stolen spell out of my marrow at once.

Across the platform, Cade struggled. The blade he’d used to split the white shard lay three feet from his reach. Blood soaked through his shirt, dark and fast, but his eyes never left mine.

"You said touching it would kill the city!" I screamed.

"I said it would tear the souls loose! Look up!"

I did.

Every eye in the square was open. People stood frozen in the streets, in windows, on rooftops. They weren't moving, but pale threads were crawling out of their chests, stretching toward the core in my hands like starving parasites.

Behind me, a child screamed.