Confusion spun through my head, and my heart lurched between hope and grief. I’d know her shape anywhere: Mother.

Mother was here.

She was alive.

But where was Father?

I staggered, kept upright only by Gerel’s strong grip.

If Mother was here but Father was not, that could only mean that he was dead. That he’d been killed.

“All right, Fancy,” Gerel murmured, “we’re going now. Give me just a moment.”

My fingers ached from clutching the railing, but I nodded and she went to say good-bye to our hosts, thanking them for allowing us onto their roof to watch the ships’ arrival.

My mother’s arrival.

I had to tell Zara. And then I had to get to Mother.

All of the officials had climbed into their horsecarres by the time Gerel returned. Her tone was gentle as she guided me to the ladder. “Whatever it is, you’ll be all right. For now, let’s focus on getting back to the others in one piece.”

She went down the ladder first, onto the narrow balcony, then held it steady for me.

Three rungs. Four. Five.

Then—

Boom. Shocks rippled through the ground, and I dropped down the last rungs and spun to look toward Revis Avenue.

A spiral of smoke bloomed into the sky, so thick it blacked out the stars.

A house had exploded.

CHAPTER TWO

SHOUTS OF EXCITEMENT SHIFTED INTO HORROR AS, like a plague, panic caught and carried through the people-choked streets. A roar of terror spilled over the night, pierced with screams and the siren wail of children crying.

“Dear Fallen Gods,” I breathed, stuck in a moment of pure shock—until I remembered my mother was down there, in one of the horsecarres careening wildly down the avenue. I had to help her.

“Let’s go, Fancy!” Gerel grabbed my sleeve and yanked me through the balcony doors. But even before we were inside the house, another great boom shook the city, like an attack of thunder.

This one was nearby. On this street.

Chaos escalated as people pushed and pulled, everyone trying to get somewhere safe. Wherever safe was anymore.

Thousands of terrified screams were sharp on our heels as we raced through our host’s upper dining room, silk curtains fluttering in our wake. Questions flickered through the back of my mind, but right now who and why didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was making it through this alive.

My heartbeat rushed in my ears as we hurtled ourselves down the curved staircase (fourteen steps), through three silk-covered archways, across one braided rug, and past two heartwood end tables. The numbers narrowed my thoughts, focusing me as I followed Gerel through the front door.

The streets were pure chaos. Fear and smoke saturated the air as people ran in every direction, shoving one another to get away from the black plumes twisting into the dark sky. A dirty, bitter scent coated the back of my throat. I gagged, staggering back toward the doorway, but a body slammed into mine, spinning me against the wall. Gerel grabbed my hand and pulled me north, toward the hotel.