Chenda noticed at the same time as I did, and I knew she didn’t think—she just acted—because at once, shadows fell across the street where Gerel was running. A moment later, Chenda hissed, realizing her mistake. The sudden darkness would make Gerel more obvious than she had been before.

A small shout sounded. The footfalls sped up. The guards had noticed.

I squeezed myself between the building and the cart, trying to make myself as tiny as possible next to Chenda.

We needed a distraction. Something to hide this shadow and let Gerel through.

As the guards went rushing by, I reached out with my mind, touching all the noorestones nearby—and pushed their inner fire away, toward noorestones farther down the road.

Darkness rippled, spreading both ways down Revis Avenue. Lights dimmed and went out.

The guards stopped on the other side of the cart, and in the moonslight, I could just see the tops of their heads. They looked from side to side, shifting their weight.

“What happened?” asked one.

“Can noorestones do that?”

Both stood there, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness, while Gerel slipped behind the cart with Chenda and me. It was cramped, but we kept as quiet as possible. I wished we had Aaru’s silence.

Now that she was safe, I allowed the noorestones to shine again, one at a time.

“Strange.” The first guard took a few steps forward.

“Lots of strange things today.” The second followed a moment later. Both, I saw now, had their weapons drawn. “Those explosions, the raids, martial law. Now this? Do you ever wonder—”

“Don’t finish that question.” The first guard looked sharply at his friend. “You know better.”

The second guard sucked in a deep breath. “Right. Sorry.” They were quiet a moment, still creeping forward as the last of the noorestones illuminated once more. “Maybe they will fix this at the summit,” he said. “The Great Abandonment, I mean, not the noorestones.”

“Wouldn’t hurt if someone fixed the noorestones, too, though.” The first guard shot a nervous smile over his shoulder, and then they were taking long, steady strides across the street.

Huddled in the shadows behind the cart, my shoulder pressed up against Chenda’s, I let out a long sigh.

“Sorry,” Chenda whispered. “I panicked.”

“It’s all right.” Gerel took Chenda’s hand and squeezed. “They didn’t see us.”

We watched the guards until they disappeared down the road, and then we drew ourselves up to walk the last few streets. How would we get Tirta and Elbena to the hotel like this?

Finally, we reached the house Altan had told us about.

Weber Street was quiet—residential, with all the curtains closed as far as I could see. Not a hint of noorestone light shone anywhere except on the streetlamps.

I steeled myself and crept up to the door.

And listened.

Wind breathed down the street.

Noorestones hummed in the back of my head.

And my heartbeat thudded in my ears.

No sounds came from inside the house, but maybe everyone was sleeping. If Aaru had been here, he’d have been able to say for sure.