Chapter 13 · The Seal Beneath the Flood Command

The core bucked hard enough to slam me into the railing. Metal punched into my ribs.

Cassian flinched.

There. Another crack.

I ripped the dive knife from my belt and lunged for the control channel.

Cassian stepped in front of me.

"Move."

"No."

"You have two choices." I raised the knife between us. "Move, or watch the lower wards disappear."

His jaw tightened. "There has to be another way."

"Then find it fast."

A siren rolled through the chamber. Red light washed over the control plate, then snapped to white.

Four symbols burned across the glass.

Old tide script.

I knew that pattern.

The core wasn't waiting for a command.

It was waiting for blood.

Cassian caught the change in my face. "Mara. What does it mean?"

"It means the engine won't answer to your seal."

"Then whose will it answer to?"

I said nothing.

He caught my chin and turned my face toward him. His glove scraped my cheek. His thumb settled beneath my jaw, right over my racing pulse.

"Whose?" he demanded.

"Get your hand off me."

"Tell me."

"You don't get to demand anything from me after throwing me away."

His grip tightened.

Not enough to hurt.