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“I can’t,” Lysa said.

“Yes, you can. I’ll free you. I’ll protect you.”

“I can’t,” she repeated. Then she pulled her jacket open. Strapped to her chest was a lattice of glass tubes filled with a pulsing, violet liquid.

“What the fuck is that?” Ryneth’s voice wavered. “No⁠—”

“You’re looking the wrong way,” she whispered. “You’re⁠—”

"Weapon!" Helianth roared behind them.

"Back off!" Kylix shouted. "Evacuate! Now!"

Out of the shadows, the Luminary surged in its full force. Daven felt hands grab his shoulder, hauling him backward. He latched on to Ryneth, pulling him back with him, fighting the other man as he screamed for the girl.

"Lysa! No!"

"Fall back!" Kylix roared, tackling Ryneth and dragging him toward the hover car.

The doors slammed shut and locked with a hiss.

Ryneth was a whirlwind of limbs, kicking at the door, sobbing as he fought Kylix’s grip. "Let me go! We can save her!"

As the car lurched into the air, its thrusters scorching the floor, Daven pressed his face to the window. Below them, in the dark foundry, Lysa stood alone. She didn't run. She turned around and walked back into the darkness of the tunnel, her silhouette swallowed by the shadows.

Daven felt it then.

This had never been a rescue. Concordant had wanted them here.

It had been a warning.

16

RYNETH

Everything hurt.

He hurt.

And Lysa…

The bomb rig strapped to her chest would surely kill her.

Why hadn’t she been saved just like the other prisoners?

Daven must have read it on his face, because he murmured next to him, “The chip was the message. She was the one delivering it.”

His hand slid to the back of Ryneth’s neck, fingers firm, holding him there. He drew him in without asking, pressing him close against his side.

Ryneth saw Kylix and Helianth stare but didn’t have the strength to call him out on it. He ignored them all instead and watched outside, the darkness cut by bright lights, skyscrapers sliding past, other hover cars drifting through the sky.

The car rocked on descent, each dip jolting through Ryneth’s spine.

If the holochip was the message and she had delivered it successfully, did that mean they’d keep Lysa alive?

He glanced up at Daven’s face. The other man still held him close, one hand firm at the back of his neck. The city lights cut across his face, but his expression gave nothing away.

The meeting outside the tunnel had been terrifying. To be so close to those who’d captured him.