Chapter 54 · The Heir Restored

"Lucas! What the hell are you doing?"

I grabbed his shoulder. He didn't even look at me.

His hand was buried inside the weapons panel. Blue current snapped across his knuckles and crawled up his wrist. His whole body jerked, but his fingers stayed locked around the override cable.

"Killing the tower weapons."

"You can't touch that line!"

"Watch me."

The alarms changed pitch.

Outside, the cannon mounted on the tower groaned awake.

Nora's face drained of color. "They're charging the upper batteries!"

Lucas clenched his jaw. "Not for long."

"Let go!"

"No."

"You're going to cook your hand off!"

His eyes finally cut toward me. Pain had pulled every line of his face tight, but his grip didn't loosen.

"Then keep talking."

"What?"

"Talk to the city. Make them hear you."

The broadcast light above the console flipped from amber to red.

Nora pointed at it. "You're live."

I turned toward the microphone.

For one breath, all I heard was Lucas's ragged breathing behind me and the electric buzz crawling through the walls.

Then I leaned in.

"This is Evelyn Voss. I'm not the terrorist Command named. I'm not the dead heir they erased.