He gasped out loud in surprise as my power connected to his. A moment later, the bridge quit groaning and the engine gained speed. My instinct was to hold my breath until we were safe, but I forced myself to keep breathing to maintain the flow of the ether. All the while, the sound of approaching drumbeats grew louder.

At last, the engine moved off the bridge, so we no longer needed to levitate it. Henry signaled to the magisters enthralling the guards, and they ran across the bridge to join us. I felt as though I’d been drained completely by the time we were far enough away for Alec to fire up the engine. I sagged against Henry, and he turned his hand around to clasp mine. “Well done, Verity,” he whispered in my ear. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”

About half an hour later, the machines had all moved a safe distance from the city into the wilds beyond the Bronx. The engines stopped, and all of us—magisters and Mechanics—piled off to say our farewells before the Mechanics went on and the magisters returned to the city.

“Thank you for your help,” Alec said, extending a hand to Henry. “It was a good plan.” It looked as though the admission pained him, but he was being a good sport about it.

“You have good machines that helped it work,” Henry said. “That underground railway of yours is amazing. What will you do now?”

“We’ll go somewhere west—we have some allies among the native tribes, and they’ll give us refuge in their land—and do what you said we should do. We’ll make plans for a real revolution, build more machines, get ready to really turn things upside down throughout the colonies. You’ll be doing the same?”

“I’ll keep undermining the government, and we have other things in the works. I’m sure our respective groups will encounter each other again.” He glanced around, then gave a sheepish smile. “There is one small flaw in my plan: how are we to get home?”

“Stewart’s meeting us with his carriage,” one of the magisters said.

“That’s well enough for you. You’re known for being out until the wee hours. But even if I left this moment, I’d be caught sneaking through the kitchen door after being out all night with my governess,” Henry said. “The servants would be up by the time we drove home, and I’m sure my housekeeper is a spy for the governor.”

“We can get you home faster without having to go through the kitchen door,” Alec said. “As I told you, some of the machines were already out of town. Get back on board.”