“And she told you that Raskos has an agent in Yora’s crew?”

Kit nodded again. “She hasn’t been able to catch anyone in the act, but she’s seen the reports in the Spike. Enough to be certain.” She raised an eyebrow. “So what’s it going to be? Are we going to waste our chance, or are we going to get this done ourselves?”

Gyre took a deep breath, cold air flooding his lungs and dispelling some of the fog from his head. It had been less than an hour since he’d gotten into the cab with Kit, but it felt like a lifetime.

The Tomb. What he’d been searching for all these years. The best chance—the only chance—at power to match a centarch’s. And it’s more than I ever imagined. He’d hoped to plunder some unknown arcana from a ruin. What a living ghoul city might offer—

I have to get there. He knew, intellectually, that he might simply be hurrying to his death, but there was no fear, only the iron determination that had brought him this far. His scar itched, and at the back of his mind he heard Maya’s scream. I have to.

Yora. What would she do, if he simply disappeared? Surely she wouldn’t go through with the attack. The natural assumption, if he and Kit didn’t show up at the rendezvous, would be that they’d been captured. In that case, the only logical thing to do would be to call everything off and hunker down.

She wouldn’t go through with it. She’s too smart for that. He let out his breath. And once Kit and I have the Analytica, we can hand off the money to Yora and the others. Whatever happened in the Tomb, Gyre didn’t think he’d need a pile of thalers.

This is the only chance I’m going to get.

Kit was watching him curiously. Gyre squared his shoulders and met her gaze.

“We’d better start going over the plan,” he said.

Chapter 13

It felt like no time at all passed between the moment Maya’s head hit the pillow and the knock that woke her. In truth, she didn’t know how long it had been—she and Beq had snuck back into the palace while it was still dark, and now sunlight was streaming in through the window. However much sleep she’d gotten, though, it hadn’t been enough.

But we made it. Thinking of last night’s adventure made her feel giddy. We have a lead on Raskos, and what’s really going on here. Now all she had to do was figure out what to do with it.