Page 160 of Zenith Tower

No one answered from ours.

The boots turned away. Their rhythm weakened beneath the water until I could no longer separate it from the alarm.

Hale checked the binding at Marrow’s wrists. It would hold, but it would not cut him. He pulled Marrow away from the edge of the channel and set him against the wall.

Delphine kept the fourth steward pinned until the squad’s footsteps disappeared. Then she stripped the restraint cord from his belt and bound his wrists. The man in the channel was still coughing below the walkway.

Caspian stood beside her with one hand at his ribs. Kieran had reclaimed Hale’s shoulder and looked close to collapse.

The tunnel brace locked open behind me.

“Why didn’t you call them?” I asked.

Marrow looked at the Mark beneath his torn cuff, then at the bonds on my wrist. He gave me no answer.

Water ran from his sleeve onto the stone. He looked older sitting there than he ever had standing over a review table.

Hale put a hand against my back. “Astra.”

The alarm changed overhead. Its slow pulse became a continuous note.

Caspian lifted his head. “Bridge station.”

He had heard the same signal during deliveries, when the stewards tested the outer lock before opening the route to the dock.

“How long?” Hale asked.

“Minutes.”

We moved.

I pulled the hearing pages from beneath my shirt and handed them back to Delphine. She tucked them inside her coat while Hale took Kieran’s weight. I slipped beneath Caspian’s free arm despite his attempt to wave me off.

At the threshold, I looked back.

Marrow sat bound against the wall, blood drying at his temple and his torn sleeve pulled down over the Mark I had left untouched.

He met my eyes, then looked toward the upper passage.

I followed the others into the tunnel.

The silver channels narrowed beside us until they disappeared beneath the floor. Ahead, gray night showed through the tunnel mouth, and beyond it waited the first planks of the bridge.

Caspian’s breath came in short pulls against my hair. Kieran stumbled once and recovered against Hale. Delphine kept one hand over the record inside her coat.

Behind us, Marrow remained silent.

Astra

The outer lock began to close before we reached the bridge.

Its iron brace descended across the tunnel mouth, shedding rust and stone dust as it moved. Caspian pulled free of my shoulder.

“Go.”

He could barely fill his lungs, but there was no room to support him through the narrowing gap. I ducked beneath the brace. Delphine came behind me with one hand pressed over the hearing pages inside her coat. Hale pushed Kieran through next and turned to reach for Caspian.

Caspian dropped to one knee and slid beneath the iron.