Chapter 39 · You just told me the lock was outside

"You just told me the lock was outside," Lyra said. "That means you don't control what's inside."

"It means the Core will strip your bond whether you like it or not."

"Then why are you sweating?"

Joren's grip shifted.

That was all Lyra needed.

She slammed her heel down, twisted free, and threw the knife at the woman with the cage. The blade struck the brass frame.

The cage flickered.

I hit it.

My shadow surged across the floor and wrapped around the Core. The white light tore at me. I held on anyway.

"Kael!" Lyra shouted.

"Break the chain!"

She lunged for the third hunter.

He swung the severance chain. It caught her wrist and flared silver. Lyra cried out, dropped to one knee, and pulled the chain toward herself instead of away.

The hunter stumbled.

She drove her forehead into his nose.

He released the chain.

"You could've warned me that would hurt," she said.

"You would've done it anyway."

"Correct."

She ripped the chain from the floor and wrapped it around his ankle. One hard pull sent him crashing into Joren.

The woman with the cage ran.

I dragged the Core after her.

"Stop!" she yelled.