Looking out over the city they could see the crowd parting for a group of soldiers.
“The prince is arriving now,” Will said.
“I doubt it. If there’s any hint of danger he’ll stay way.” Kent frowned and glanced back at the tarp covering his airship.
“I should be down there,” Araby said.
“If you’re going, you’d better hurry.” Kent looked over at her. “Elliott is expecting you.”
“There’s no way we can make it. The harbor is too far—” Will began, but Kent cut him off.
“Take Elliott’s steam carriage.” He ran his hands over the straps of the basket, inspecting them. “As long as you ask the guard to bring it back. He left it with me so I could procure supplies for our project.”
And Araby dragged Will to the stairs. Kent finished inspecting the balloon and basket and brushed his hands on his jacket. Now he had to wait for the guard to return with the carriage. He’d never been so impatient. He kept thinking about that kiss he shouldn’t have seen. And about April. Could he see her one more time before the ship launched and the world changed? Why had he let Will take the blasted steam carriage?
Luckily he had one of Elliott’s tokens, a gold coin with the symbol of an eye. He flew down the stairs and hailed a nearby soldier with an eye embroidered on his coat who drove him in another carriage to the pier. He saw Araby’s purple-tinted hair, but he couldn’t make his way to them, there were so many people. He’d never seen such a crush. A few entrepreneurs were selling items. Seeing the excitement on the faces around him gave him hope for the future.
Then a girl collapsed, convulsing. Kent was too far away to reach her, but as the crowd surged back, he saw April across the pier. She was wearing a red dress. He pushed through the crowd, ignoring the curses and insults that followed him.
She was fighting her way toward the gangplank, but there were just too many people, and despite her fierceness, she was slight, and the crowd was suspicious now. He ignored the dark looks of the revelers, focused only on making his way to her.
As he closed the distance between them, he realized that he didn’t know what to say. But he did know the moment that she saw him.
Her face lit up.
“You aren’t on the Discovery,” she said.
“I was never meant to be.”
“We have to get to Elliott. Something is going to happen. The pier is crawling with Malcontent’s men.”
“The bomb won’t explode,” he told her. “I told you—”
“Malcontent isn’t stupid.” She pulled him on as they spoke, navigating the crowd. “And in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not either,” she said, and she pulled something from her pocked and placed it in his hand.
He recognized it immediately. A velvet bag, heavy with the weight of corrective lenses. She must have pocketed it when they were in his father’s workshop.
“Not being able to see would be terrible.” She sounded serious for a moment, and then she tossed her hair. “You wouldn’t be able to see how much more beautiful I am than anyone else.”
He laughed.
They were almost to the gangplank.
“Hurry,” she begged, all seriousness now. “Malcontent is driven. I’m afraid that Elliott is underestimating the danger. Malcontent’s men are watching the ship . . . feverishly. Could they have fixed your bomb, or built a new one?”
“That’s impossible,” he said. But was it? Were there any other inventors in the city who’d be able to see what he’d done and correct it in a matter of days?
A path cleared before them and Kent took off.
“No!” April threw herself at his back and stopped him.
“What?” He spun around, just as the world went up in flames.
The ship exploded.
April’s face was crushed into his vest. He fell forward, his body protecting hers. If she hadn’t grabbed him, if he’d run those last few steps. . . .
He couldn’t hear. His shoulder was throbbing, probably burned, and the smoke stung his eyes. April had saved his life. He staggered back up to his feet and helped her to hers.
She reached up and pinched a strand of his hair. “It was on fire,” she explained.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Will you go . . . will you look for Elliott?” She grimaced and looked down. Could Elliott have survived that blast? Or did she mean Elliott’s body? “I have to find Araby. My father wants her. I can still save her.”
“How did you know?” He meant about the blast.
“Malcontent’s men were all cowering down. I knew something was about to happen.”
She’d spent a large part of her childhood watching the faces of the people around her. But that didn’t account for all of her perceptiveness. “You’re so fearless,” he said, repeating the description that had first come to him as they escaped from Malcontent.
They stood in the middle of the thinning crowd, both singed, staring at each other. She broke the silence. “Before you go, I’m going to kiss you.”
He reached up to take off his spectacles, but she put her hand over his. “It’s okay,” she said. “Leave them on.”
And then she wrapped her arms around his neck, and thoroughly kissed him.
It was over too quickly. Bits of ash were still falling from the sky. The city was on fire, and if any of Elliott’s grandiose plans were to be carried out, they had to find a way to fight through the madness.