MARGOT’S POV
I did not see the explosion happen.
I felt it.
A high, shrill hum cut through the quarry, sharp enough that my eardrums clenched. The air thinned. My lungs froze. My mark tightened around my bones like a fist. For a single, suspended heartbeat, the world seemed to take in a breath.
Then the monolith blew apart.
A wall of white light slammed into us before I even had time to scream. Nathan threw himself around me, curling his entire body over mine as the blast hit. My ribs crushed against his arms. My cheek slammed into his shoulder. The force ripped the air from my throat, tossing us backward through the trees.
Branches cracked. Something smashed against Nathan’s back with a heavy crunch. I felt his body jolt, felt him take the full hit, felt him refuse to loosen his ho
