Se connecterThe floor didn't just break; it vanished.
One second I was looking into Rowan’s terrified eyes through the gap in the metal shutter, and the next, I was falling. The wind screamed past my ears as the entire top floor of the Council Tower tilted into the sky. I pulled Leo tight against my chest, twisting my body so I would hit the debris first.
I won't let him die.
The gunshot was a sharp crack that cut through the thunder of the crashing waves. I felt Rowan’s body jerk in my arms. A spray of red hit my cheek, hot and terrifying. Time seemed to slow down as we swung mid-air, dangling from the harpoon rope."Rowan!" I screamed, but he didn't answer. His head fell back, and his golden eyes drifted shut.The man on the ship, the one who called himself my grandfather, didn't hesitate. He hauled on the rope with a strength that didn't seem human. "Pull them in! Now!" he roared to his crew.Hands grabbed us, pulling us over the metal railing and onto the hard deck. I collapsed next to Rowan, ignoring the soldiers in silver armor who surrounded us. I pressed my hands against the wound in his shoulder. Dark blood was soaking through his shirt, bubbling around a jagged piece of s
The man in the bone armor stepped into the cave, his red eyes glowing like hot coals. Every step he took left a scorched footprint on the stone. I backed away, clutching Leo so tight I could feel his little heart racing against my own. I didn't know who this demon was, but my soul screamed that he was death itself."Who are you?" I demanded. My voice was steady, even if my mind was a blank slate."I am the Bone King," he hissed. The sword in his hand dripped a dark, thick liquid that smoked when it hit the ground. "And you, Lyra, have something that belongs to the deep. Give me the boy, and I will let the wolf die quickly."I looked at the man on the floor, the one who called himself Rowan. He was covered in blood, his golden eyes wide with a pain that had nothing to do with his wounds. He looked at me like I was hi
My breath hitched in my chest. The ice around my ankles was so cold it felt like it was burning through my skin. I stared at the woman walking toward us. She had my eyes, my chin, and that same silver glow, but hers was sharp, like a jagged piece of glass."Mother?" I whispered. The word felt like a curse. "Hestia said you died. Everyone said you died."Selene stopped just a few feet away. She didn't reach out to hug me. She didn't look relieved. She looked at me like I was a broken tool she had finally found in the trash."I had to die, Lyra," she said. Her voice was cold, matching the ice at my feet. "I had to let the Council think the Silver Line was weak. I needed them to build the labs. I needed them to refine the blood so that when the time was right, I could take it all back."
The ceiling of the cave didn't just crack; it exploded. Giant slabs of rock crashed down, filling the air with thick, gray dust. I lunged over Leo, shielding his small body with mine. I felt the sharp edges of stones cutting into my back, but I didn't move."Rowan!" I screamed through the grit in my mouth."I’m here," he wheezed. He was pinned under a heavy beam of timber that had fallen from the cave's mouth. His legs were trapped, and his face was twisted in agony.My mother, Selene, stood at the entrance, her silver crown glowing like a dying star. She didn't care about the cave collapsing. She only cared about the boy. "The Altar is waiting, Lyra! Give him to me, and the rocks will stop falling!""Never!" I roared. The black veins on my arms pulsed with a viole
The floor didn't just break; it vanished.One second I was looking into Rowan’s terrified eyes through the gap in the metal shutter, and the next, I was falling. The wind screamed past my ears as the entire top floor of the Council Tower tilted into the sky. I pulled Leo tight against my chest, twisting my body so I would hit the debris first.I won't let him die. Not like this."Lyra!" My father’s voice was a jagged howl. He was sliding down the tilted floor toward the edge, his fingers clawing at the broken tiles. He didn't look at me. He was reaching for the glowing power core that had fallen near the ledge. Even as he faced death, he only wanted the power.I hit a piece of falling metal with a bone-crushing thud. The world turned into a blur of gray smoke
The explosion was a wall of orange heat that tossed our boat into the air like a toy. I didn't think; I just grabbed Leo and threw myself over the side into the freezing harbor. The water hit me like a slap, pulling me down into the dark. I kicked with everything I had, my lungs screaming, until I broke the surface.The boat was gone. Only burning pieces of wood floated where our friends had been."Rowan! "I screamed, the saltwater stinging my throat. "Isaac! Tessa!"No answer. Only the sound of the waves and the distant crackle of the fire. I swam toward a large piece of the hull, pulling Leo onto the floating wood. He was coughing, his small face pale, but he was alive. I clung to the edge, my legs numb from the cold, searching the dark water.A hand gripped the wood n
"Leo? That’s impossible. You told me the first prototype was recycled, Rowan!" I screamed, the wind whipping my hair across my face. I stood frozen in the mountain pass, staring at the teenage boy who looked like a ghost carved out of obsidian and silver.
"Drop him, Father! Or I swear to the moon, I’ll tear the blue out of your veins myself," I roared. The silver hum in my blood was no longer a flicker; it was a furnace.My father, Everett Vale, tilted his head wit
"You’re going to let her shatter the core, aren't you?" The voice came from the dark corner of the engine room, wet and rhythmic, like a dying lung.I didn't turn around. I couldn't let go of the iron rod I’d jammed int
"Drop the knife, Lyra! I'm the one who disabled the perimeter dampeners for you," Tessa hissed, her hands raised in a gesture of peace, though her eyes scanned the dark tree line behind me with predatory precision."You







