“El, she’s a murderer.” Finn sounded strangled. “She killed your supervisor. She tried to kill you.”

“No, she didn’t. She tried to take me to the Councilwomen.”

“That’s worse!”

“This isn’t about her; she’s just a tool.” I stuck my hand into the recess below the floor and found a handle. I pulled, and the hatch opened toward me. A draft of cooler air wafted upwards. “We need her.”

He swore.

“You know I’m right,” I said.

I heard him tramp across the floor and the rustle of Lariel’s clothing as he lifted her off the ground.

“We’re definitely going to regret this,” he said.

Millie reached out in the darkness and found my hand. She squeezed it gratefully.

The shaft smelled of dust and iron. It was disconcerting; in the absolute darkness, there was no way of knowing how deep it ran. I descended first. The metal rungs set into the side of the chute were icy under my hands, but solid. Whoever had set this up had meant it to last. My backpack brushed against the side walls, and loose dirt pattered around me.

My feet found the ground.

“It’s about fifteen feet deep,” I called and stepped back. “Drop the bolts so I can move them down the passage, or they’ll interfere with my lace.”

There was a thump as the bolts hit the ground.

In the direction of the city wall, the passage shrank, wide enough for one person to crawl through at a time. Still pitch black; I could see nothing. It was an eerie feeling, like if I wandered too far, the darkness might swallow me—I had the irrational sense that I might somehow lose my way. Shadowy fingers pressed against my eyelids. I tossed the bundle of bolts down the crawlspace and returned to the base of the shaft.

“Okay,” I said. “If you lower her slowly into the shaft, I’ll be able to pick up her weight with my lace.”

Millie and Finn manoeuvred Lariel through the hatch, and I wove a net to lower her down. Using my power blind was tricky; I had very little sense of her weight, only a slight strain against the ropes. I reached my arms up and felt for her feet.

“All right, I’ve got her,” I said. “Be quick.”

Distantly, I heard the sound of alarmed voices. It seemed the darkness had been discovered. I propped Lariel up beside the entrance to the crawlspace, listening hard. Hopefully the phenomenon would buy us a little more time, although the fact that one of the men had escaped the hostel posed a threat. Word of us leaving the city might get back to Celane.

Dirt showered the base of the shaft, and a few seconds later, Millie reached the ground. She tapped my arm and leaned close to me.

“He’s going to struggle,” she muttered. “It’s pretty cramped down here.”

Finn was descending after her. “I can hear you, you know.”

“Stop listening, then.”