The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

Three minutes.

Eva's arms went numb around the baby she held. Lyra's face drained of all color, her grip tightening on the child in her arms,the modified one. The one that was about to become a bomb.

Alessandro's gun snapped up, aimed at Grayson's head. "Turn it off."

"I can't." Grayson's smile was serene, monstrous. "Once activated, the sequence is irreversible. A failsafe. To ensure no one steals what belongs to the Cradle."

Marcella's ...