Séverin’s scream was no different.

Enrique strained to hear through the bandage, but the words slipped past him. He held up his torch, the better to read Séverin’s lips.

A mistake.

Beyond Séverin, the black water of the lake writhed and boiled. Stalactites trembled on the ceiling like loose teeth, crashing into the surface. The moment they hit the water, rings of light bloomed across the inky water.

A second later, the lake ripped in half, rising up into watery sheets that stretched toward the ceiling. An unearthly, green glow pulsed in the depths as skeletal hands broke through the sheets of water and grinning skulls shoved their heads through the waves, sightless eyes snapping toward the shore. Tatters of silk and broken strands of jewels circled their wrist bones and snapped necks as they walked disjointedly toward them.

Around him, Enrique felt the vibrating thrum of music the way one can perceive light behind closed eyes. He was right. The siren had been a warning.

Séverin kicked at him, his eyes wild and his hands clamped over his ears. His lips moved so quickly that Enrique caught only a handful of words:

TRAP … DON’T LISTEN … AMPLIFIERS.

A flash of movement caught Enrique’s gaze. Zofia stood in the water, her hands grasping at the air. Thirty meters away, the skeletons slouched toward her.

Laila yanked on Zofia’s hand, her mouth opened in silent yelling.

“Zofia!” called Enrique.

But she didn’t turn her head. She was shaking, sobbing, her hand stretched out. Laila kept tugging on her, but Zofia didn’t move.

The siren’s song is the last beautiful thing you see before death.

Too late, Enrique realized what was happening. It made sense that Laila, mostly Forged herself, would not be affected by a mind Forged manipulation running through the cave. But Hypnos? Séverin? Zofia? They were all at risk.

Images of Zofia pulled beneath the black waves shot through Enrique’s head. Nausea gripped his gut. He almost ran to her right then before Séverin elbowed him out of the way. He jerked his head behind Enrique, his words unintelligible except for one thing:

AMPLIFIERS.

“Why would I do that?” asked Enrique. “What if it just amplifies their song and makes the illusion more powerful?”

But if Séverin heard him, he did not answer. Instead, he ran after Zofia and Laila. Enrique spun around to see Hypnos stumbling toward him, a wild look in his eyes. His hands were clamped over his ears.

Ears.

That was it! If he could get out more beeswax, than the mind Forged song wouldn’t affect any of them. Enrique fumbled for the rucksack slung around his hip. He tore it open, his hands trembling as he brought out the pale box. Surely there would be enough for all of them. He had just counted out a fifth piece when a violent tremor slammed through the ground.

Enrique stumbled backwards, the wax pieces falling from his hands and sinking into the water. Lightning spangled across the cavern. In the slim space where the lake water split into two, a glowing structure creakily jutted out of the silt. It was a bridge, made of interlocked bone. It stretched from one end of the lake to the other, and the moment it broke free of the dirt, the black rock wall on the other side of the cave glowed brightly. A flash of amber scuttled across its surface, rendering it translucent. For a split second, Enrique glimpsed the temple that lay on the other side: huge and jagged, flanked by silent automaton guardians.