The train wheels shrieked against the iron rails, throwing up sparks that died instantly in the cold morning downpour. The luxury locomotive was gathering speed with mechanical indifference, its dark steel chassis sliding down the narrow ravine like a black iron wall.
Twenty seconds. The digital beacon on the signaling tower flashed a warning amber, a low, rhythmic chime indicating the train was closing in on the northern perimeter marker.
Nora stood at the edge of the embankment, her bare feet buried in the wet moss, her left hand pressed hard against her ribs. Every breath felt like inhaling broken glass. Her platinum veins were still burning beneath her skin, the raw current from the bedrock vibrating through her bones like an unstable engine.
She looked back down at the ferns. Ethan
