Chapter 39 · The Other Half

"Don't touch it," Kael said.

I already had my hand on the core. The pulse under my palm felt like a heart beating backwards, dragging heat out of my skin instead of pushing it in.

"I'm not here to smash it," I said. "That's the mistake. That's what triggers the reset."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Fixing it."

The core was the size of a car engine, suspended in a frame of blackened iron that looked like it had been melted and twisted by something that didn't care about physics. The light inside it wasn't steady. It flickered, strobing between gold and red, and every time it pulsed I felt the loop tighten around my ribs like a fist.

Kael moved closer. I could feel the heat of him at my back, the way his breath changed when he was trying not to grab me and haul me away from something stupid.

"Nora."

"I know what I'm doing."

"You don't."

I turned just enough to meet his eyes. "I've done this thirty-seven times. You think I don't know?"

His jaw locked. He didn't have an answer for that.

The core flared again, and this time I felt it reach.