“I’ll go,” I repeated, louder this time. “As a way to prove myself to all of you. You didn’t know what to do with me anyway, right? So I’ll go through the time postern. I’ll learn more about the future, find out if it would be feasible for us to evacuate there. If it is, then I will return with proof. And if not… well, then, you’ll be rid of me. Your hands will be clean.”

I could feel Isaak’s eyes boring into the side of my head, but I didn’t look at him. I kept my gaze riveted on Eos.

Beside me, Ceilos stood. “I’ll go, too.” I looked at him in surprise. His mouth was drawn in a thin line. “I’m not letting you go alone,” he said firmly.

“I will also go,” said Gitrin. “They are my students—my family.” She stared at Ceilos for a long moment, and something seemed to pass between them that I couldn’t quite understand.

The crowd around us began to murmur. I saw a number of people tugging their earlobes, and a glimmer of hope began to burn in my chest.

“Very well,” said Eos. “Shall we put this to a vote, then?” He called out the words in the old language once more, and this time, nearly everyone in the courtyard got to their feet.

My skin prickled, and I rubbed my sweaty palms together. The world’s rotation seemed to be slowing back to a regular pace. It didn’t seem possible, but somehow I’d managed to evade death’s jaws again.

“It’s decided, then,” Eos said. “Gitrin will accompany the outsiders through the time postern and report back to us. How long will it take you to build the device?”

“Not long, now that we have the key. Maybe a week?”

As Eos tugged his earlobe, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Isaak.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, his brows scrunched with worry.

I forced a smile. “Of course.”

“Yeah, but... I can’t guarantee that everything’s going to be okay for you in my time. Our government isn’t exactly”—he hesitated, struggling to find the right word—“super fantastic or anything.”

I laughed humorlessly. “That’s nothing I’m not accustomed to.” Isaak didn’t laugh back. He didn’t even smile. I nudged him. “Don’t worry, Isaak. This was your idea, after all.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t thinking you—” He broke off, then added, barely audibly, “and Ceilos... I mean...”

My spirits sank like a stone through water. “You don’t want me to come?”

“I didn’t mean that! I just—”

Before he could finish, Gitrin pushed between us. “Nadin, I’m going to need your help getting the postern prepared. Think you’re up to it?”