Celeste positioned us on either side of the altar. The crystal pulsed between us, sick light painting the basement walls in shades of decay.

"You'll need to channel your bond directly into the crystal," she explained, chalking symbols on the floor around us. "Let it feed on your connection instead of the network bonds it was designed to break."

"And if that doesn't work?" Darius asked.

"Then we evacuate the academy and hope everyone gets far enough away before it detonates." Her expression ...