Sleep didn’t come easily. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining horrific scenarios of my friends’ fates—all of them, including Henry. Therefore, I sat bolt upright at the first tap on my bedroom window. I held my breath, waiting for another sound. I tried telling myself that it was just a tree branch tapping in the wind, but there was no tree that close to the house.

The sound returned, too rhythmic to be accidental. I slid out of bed and peered between the curtains, barely stifling a scream when I found myself face-to-face with someone outside my window. As I stumbled backward in horror, I inadvertently opened the curtains wider and then I recognized Alec. Opening the window, I blurted, “Alec! I was worried when I didn’t hear from you after the riot.” Then the obvious question occurred to me. “How did you know which window was mine?”

“The other windows on this level have fancier curtains, with two windows per room. One window with simple curtains seemed like a governess’s room.”

That made sense, I thought with a nod. And then the truly obvious question struck me. “How did you get up here?”

He was hanging on to a rope ladder dangling from something far above. I leaned out the window and looked upward to see a faint gray blur against the sky. After staring at it for a while, I realized it was an airship. “Would you like a ride on my magic carpet?” Alec whispered with a grin. “We’re on a reconnaissance mission, and I thought another pair of eyes might help.”

“Oh,” I breathed, pulling back out of the window. “I shouldn’t … I mustn’t.” But to fly above the city … how could I not?

“Dress warmly,” Alec said, as if reading the decision from my mind, and then I remembered that I was in my nightgown. This really was the week for me to be seen in my nightclothes by men.

“One moment,” I said, letting the curtains fall closed. I doubted I had time to get fully dressed, so I pulled on woolen stockings under my nightgown. Without garters, they sagged around my knees. I shoved my feet into my boots and laced them loosely. I put on my long coat over my nightgown and buttoned it all the way up. My hair was braided, and I decided that would have to do. I put on my gloves, and then I carried my desk chair over to the window and climbed onto it, shoving the curtains aside.