Chapter 47 · Blacktide Takes the Gate

"Don't touch that iron, Lia!" Calian shouted as the first wave slammed through the gate.

"I'm not letting him drown!" I shoved my bloody palm against the console. The oath-ring locked around my wrist bit deeper, hot metal cutting into my skin. "Noah! Grab the cable! Look at me!"

Noah couldn't look. Black sludge wrapped around his ribs and dragged him toward the center pipe, where the turbine blades churned beneath the foam. His fingers slipped from the rusted rung.

"Lia... it hurts." His voice cracked. "My chest feels like it's full of grease."

"Then kick!" I screamed. "Kick against the wall!"

"He can't kick, you stubborn little fool." Sevryn's voice carried down from the catwalk. He stood beside the emergency valve in his clean gray coat, an override key turning between two fingers. "He's the ground wire. You opened the circuit when you pulled off the ring. If you pull him free, the back-surge tears your guardian's chest apart."

"He's lying!" I shouted at Calian. "Tell me he's lying!"

Calian was already waist-deep in the black water.