She nods stiffly and levels a knifing glare at Yvan, gesturing toward the Noi runes marking his chest. “The Vu Trin will have you tracked through those iron-shielding runes within the hour if we don’t get you to a more powerfully warded location. They’ve sent out an elite tracking dragon.”

Yvan’s mouth lifts into a surprisingly feral snarl. We share a loaded glance, the gold in his eyes blazing hotter.

He closes his eyes and stiffens, every one of his corded muscles going taut as he draws his wings into a tattooed impression, his horns pulling into his head. He throws on the cloak and pulls in a hard breath, morphing his hair brown and rounding his pointed ears and pupils, the runes on his chest disappearing. His eyes meet mine and a rush of heat courses through us both as we hastily exit the cramped bedroom and board the skiff along with Lucretia and Jules, Mora’lee and Professor Hawkkyn remaining behind.

I take a seat on one of the two benches siding the skiff, Yvan and I keeping our cloaked heads lowered, his warm side pressed to mine.

Ni Vin pilots the skiff into motion as Kam Vin and Lucretia scan the skies, the city’s air traffic blessedly dense. I glance over my shoulder at Mora and Professor Hawkkyn, their figures already tiny as they watch us speed away.

“Do you think the Vu Trin will assume Yvan and I have fled the city?” I ask Kam Vin.

She nods. “But the tracking dragon is a serious danger. There’s word he’s picked up your scent from an alley you were both in. He’ll be difficult to evade.”

“We’re too exposed,” I note, the moonlit night too clear, only a smattering of clouds drifting low in the sky. My clutch of concern tightens as I spot four military rune skiffs suddenly converging on us, Yvan’s fire aura powering up as he tenses beside me.

“Any moment now...” Kam Vin murmurs to herself as she scans the river’s expanse, oddly unfocused on the threat bearing down.

A thick, patchy fog abruptly forms over the Vo’s surface, wicking up toward us with unnatural speed. Ni Vin angles our skiff sharply down, dimming our skiff’s rune lights as we soar into the gray then bank sharply right, my stomach lurching from the rapid change in direction as the incoming military skiffs are rendered to hazy streaks of blue light by the obscuring fog, rapidly disappearing in the distance.

Tension ripples through Yvan’s fire aura as we exchange a wary look, the fog thickening as it consumes the world in a patchwork of moonlit clouds.

“Do you have a Zhilon’ile ally?” Yvan asks Kam Vin in a tone of amazement as we tunnel through the gray.