Chapter 54 · The Second Lock

"How many?"

Cassian didn't answer.

I grabbed his collar and slammed him against the rail. Cold water dripped from his hair onto my cheek. His breath caught inches from my mouth, but his eyes stayed hard.

"How many, Cassian?"

"Thirty thousand. Maybe more."

My fist twisted in his soaked shirt. "And if I leave her down here?"

"She dies."

"My sister?"

"Your sister. The people trapped below. Everyone in the lower wards when the flood hits."

I shoved him harder. Metal groaned behind his shoulders.

"So that's your brilliant plan? Bring me into a death machine and hope I fix it?"

"I don't have a plan yet."

I stared at him. "You brought me down here with a sword and no plan?"

"I brought you because the engine responds to your touch."

That stopped me.

Behind him, the central chamber churned with black water. Copper lines ran from the walls into the glass prison holding Nell. They pulsed against her skin like veins.

Cassian glanced over his shoulder. "You opened the first seal upstairs. The engine knows your blood. It won't accept anyone else's command."

"You knew."

"I suspected."

"You knew enough to use me."

His jaw tightened. Not guilt.