“I need a lookout. You’ll be steering and I’ll be deep into the spell. She’s hardly any extra weight. She stays.” Henry’s voice left no room for argument.

Alec glared at him, and I thought for a moment it might come to a fight. “I’m willing to stay as lookout,” I said. “I’m not afraid.”

“Then that settles it. We should get started,” Henry said, rubbing his hands together, then placing them on the engine. I felt the surge of magic as the engine crept forward and onto the bridge.

I couldn’t tell when they began lifting some of the engine’s weight, but the bridge didn’t make any frightening sounds, so I assumed it was working. I shifted my attention back and forth between the group waiting at the other end and the group holding the guards in thrall. So far, everything was going according to plan.

Then when we were just past the middle of the bridge, I heard a distant drum cadence. “I think it’s the shift change for the guards,” I said, wondering if Henry could hear me, as deep as he was into the spell.

“We’ll have to hurry, then,” he said without opening his eyes. The engine moved faster, but the strain was showing on Henry’s face, and the sound of groaning metal told me the bridge was taking more weight than it should.

In Which I Must Decide My Future

IN WHICH I MUST DECIDE MY FUTURE

We weren’t going to make it across the bridge. More soldiers were coming, and the magisters didn’t have enough power to move the engine faster while lifting its weight enough for the bridge to bear it. Either we’d be caught or the bridge would collapse and plunge us into the river below. I didn’t know much about using magic, but I could channel power from the ether. Perhaps that would provide the needed boost. However, doing so would reveal my biggest secret. It was a revelation that could cost me my freedom.

The bridge groaned again, sounding like its metal trusses were crying out in pain. Alec kept the engine pointed straight down the bridge, but I could see the tension in his shoulders as he focused on the other end that seemed so far away. A look at Henry’s sweat-beaded face convinced me I had no choice but to trust him. He knew a thing or two about secrets and breaking the law. If any magister could accept a half-breed in his household, it would be Henry Lyndon. I removed my glove and placed my hand on top of his, then lowered my magical shields and opened myself to the ether, pouring the power I channeled into him.