And I have to let him go. Just for a little while, I tell myself.

He presses his lips to mine softly and then urgently, and I wrap my arms around him, digging my fingers into the muscles along his back to draw him tighter.

When he pulls away his forehead barely touches mine. “Be safe,” he commands.

“You too,” I tell him. He nods and then nods again.

I search for anything I can say to keep him close, to stop him from going, but I know there’s nothing.

Except this: “I love you,” I whisper. It hurts to say the words, to know that he now carries my heart with him and that I have to trust him with it.

He kisses the tip of my nose, my mouth, my cheek. “I love you,” he says back, and then he turns and is gone.

The fire burns at my back, the smoke drifting and swirling around me as I watch him leave the building and cross to the cable car. As I watch it whisk him away from me.

On rooftops across the City I see other fires. Other sparks of light like stars. I try to shove my emotions down so I can focus on what needs to happen to keep us safe.

Behind me the balloon fills more and more. I help my sister keep the mouth of fabric open, astonished that it’s actually working. The seams hold, the oiled fabric capturing the hot air inside. I start to get a giddy rush in my chest. We just have to get off the Sanctuary and down the river a bit—not even half a day’s walk.

The horizon begins to lighten, a strip of pink vibrating along the curve of sky. “Should we give the signal to the others?” Gabry asks. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes bright with excitement.

I nod and turn toward the structure enclosing the stairwell. Most of my drawing of Catcher is gone, just a few bold slashes of charcoal left. I press my hand against what used to be his face and then climb to the roof, where there’s a long strip of bright red cloth tied to the end of a tall pole. I lift it, letting the ribbon unfurl in the frozen morning breeze.

It snaps out, catching the wind. Telling everyone in the Dark City that now’s the time to fly. This is it. A lightness fills my body, a rush so intense I want to combust with joy. The fabric balloon’s starting to lift. Elias throws more logs onto the fire. It won’t be long before it will carry us away. When we’ll be free.