But then her hand brushed his, and he knew it wasn’t a dream or a trance or anything but real. She was here. Alive. Morgan smiled, and his heart shattered into pieces, because it was a guarded smile, not a happy one. “I won’t be here long,” she said. “I’ve managed to stay out for almost a full day, trying to find you. You do hide yourself well.”

“Then you can stay out longer? Get far from here?”

She was already shaking her head. “No, I’ll never make it out of Alexandria. They’ll find me soon. I haven’t found a way to take this off yet, and until I do, they can track me.” She withdrew her hand and traced fingers over her collar, the symbol of her enslavement to the Library. Some sanity came back to him, and with it, doubt. Maybe they’d turned Morgan. Maybe she was a lure meant to distract him from another, more serious threat. He didn’t see anyone or feel anything, but she was a stunning distraction. He couldn’t take his gaze away from her for long enough to keep a good watch.

So many things he wanted to ask her, but he settled for, “You must have had some great reason to come now. What’s wrong?”

Something clouded her face for a moment, and it almost looked like . . . fear. “There were other reasons, but mostly . . . mostly, it’s about Thomas. Jess, I think he could be held in Rome! I found reference to an ancient, very secret prison—”

“Below the Basilica Julia. I know,” Jess finished. “I’m sorry. I just found that out. But . . . do you have proof that Thomas is actually there?”

Morgan seemed shocked and then a little angry. He didn’t blame her. “Proof? No. But I thought— I thought you’d want to know, that it would give you something more to investigate. And instead I risked my neck to come here to give you information you already had?”

She really does seem pale, he thought. Even in the Iron Tower, there must be sun somewhere for them to enjoy, and she hadn’t gotten enough. She seemed thinner, too. And even discounting the deceptive shadows of the night, he read the weariness on her face. The frustration.

“Did you find records about him? Is he all right?” Jess asked, when all he really wanted to ask about in that moment was her. What she was enduring in the Iron Tower. Whatever it was, he knew it was his fault she was there. They both knew it, and it stood between them like a dark, brooding shadow.

“I know he’s still alive,” she said. “The Artifex seems to believe he has a use for him. Something about the design of the Library automata. From the reports, Thomas had notes in his Codex that might help improve the automata against the Burner attacks. They’ll want to get that from him, at least. If he proves useful, they’ll keep him alive. And if they think they can trust him, they might even . . .”