Chapter 56 · Evelyn, where are you?

I pressed my palm into the breach.

The chamber vanished.

This time, I landed inside the memory.

My boots hit a metal floor. Hot air scraped my throat. Burned paper and oil stung my nose.

Copper lines ran from the machinery into a circle carved across the ground. Red light pulsed through them.

Kane's arms were still around me, but his voice sounded far away.

"Evelyn, where are you?"

"In the room."

"What room?"

"The disaster room. I can see it. I can feel the floor."

A dozen people stood around the circle. Their faces were blurred by the memory, but the fear in their voices was real.

Oscar Venn stood in the center.

Older than the last time I'd seen him. Thinner, sharper, smiling like he'd already won.

He lifted a stack of rescue reports.

"The city's already afraid," he told the room. "Fear makes obedience easy. The warden's spent years pretending the seal protects them. We'll show them what happens when he fails."

Someone near the machinery swallowed. "And the bureau?"

Oscar tapped the reports against his palm. "The bureau will blame the Hart girl. They always do."

My stomach dropped.

"What did he say?" Kane demanded.