Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(75)

“Leave it to me,” she said confidently. Her eyes grew bright with tears and she reached across the carriage to take my hand. “You are going to save him, aren’t you?”

“I’m doing everything I can. But you know, he won’t be able to come home. He’ll be a fugitive, probably for the rest of his life.”

“Or until we overthrow the government.”

I would have thought she was the least likely revolutionary, but she was full of surprises.

I spent the rest of the day working on the padlock until I could open it within a minute. A couple of times, I risked using magic, and that dropped my time to just a few seconds. I tried to get some rest because I knew it would be a long night, but it was futile. I couldn’t shut off my mind as it rehashed every detail of a plan that was frighteningly lacking in detail. So many things would have to come together for this to work, but the alternative was unthinkable.

I finally gave up and forced myself to down some tea and a sandwich before heading out to visit my “sick friend.”

It was time to see if my mad plan had a chance of working.





Chapter Twenty


In Which

I Clean a Cell Block




“So, it’s all set?” Lizzie said when she ushered me inside her boardinghouse.

“I believe so, if the Mechanics are ready on their end.”

“They’ll be waiting at the hangar. The rest is up to you. We also have a couple of riots ready to go. I must say, you’ve put a bounce in Colin’s step. He hasn’t organized a good riot in far too long.”

“I might also need an alibi for myself tonight. I’m supposedly visiting a sick friend here, one who might die tonight and leave me utterly distraught.”

Lizzie smiled. “I believe we can manage that. If we need to, we’ll even have a funeral. Everyone here at the house will be wearing black if any officials come by tomorrow. I’ll arrange for a funeral wreath on the door.”

I took a deep breath and let it all out in a sigh, trying to release some of the tension that had built up within me. “Then I believe I’m as ready as I ever will be. Pray that this works. I can’t believe I’m doing anything this audacious.”

“I always knew you had it in you. You came to New York City on your own, with no support and no clear plans. That was as bold as anything else you’ve done.”

“It was naive. And I suppose this plan is just as naive. But I can’t leave him there.”

She studied me for a moment, a look of realization spreading across her face. “You really love him, don’t you?”

I felt my cheeks grow quite warm. “I—I owe him a great deal. And I care about him.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I thought so.”

I sighed, conceding her point, and shook my head. “It’s utterly hopeless.”

“Well, he’ll be a fugitive, so maybe who he is won’t matter much anymore. Now, we’d better get you ready to go.” We went up to her room, where she had a loose gray dress that fit over my clothes, with a dingy white apron and a kerchief that covered my hair. I left my coat behind, with a shawl over my shoulders instead.

I had just finished tying the kerchief when one of Lizzie’s housemates rapped on her door. She was dressed much like my disguise. “Are you ready to go?” she asked.

“As ready as I’m likely to be,” I said, my voice trembling. I gathered up the cloth bundle that held my supplies and joined her and one other girl from the house as we left and caught a bus heading farther downtown. There, they went off to their jobs and I went to the back of the laundry, where I was to meet my helpers from the fort.

I tried not to panic when I didn’t see anyone there. I was early because I was so afraid I’d miss them. They were taking a huge risk for me, so I didn’t want to inconvenience them further by making them wait. Even so, each minute that I waited seemed to drag. I closed my eyes and counted to fifty, telling myself that they’d be there when I opened my eyes again. It was a game I’d played as a child whenever I had to wait.

When I reached thirty, a voice said, “Good, you’re on time.” I opened my eyes to see the dark-skinned girl who worked on the nighttime cleaning crew. Soon, we were joined by the laundresses. “You won’t be able to carry in that big a bundle,” the German girl said. “It will look out of place.”

“But these are things I need,” I said. After thinking for a moment, I untied my apron, lifted my borrowed dress, and wrapped the cloth items around my waist. With the dress back in place, I used the apron to secure the bundle. I didn’t think the result looked too obvious once I had my shawl pulled around me, and the extra padding helped disguise my body shape.

As a group, we caught a bus down to the lowermost tip of the island. My heart began pounding as I stepped off the bus in front of the fort. As much as I’d been sneaking around and covering my tracks until now, I hadn’t actually been doing anything wrong, and no one was likely to have been watching me. Now, though, I was about to start breaking so many laws that if I were caught, I’d be in as much trouble as Henry, but without the noble title to protect me.

We joined a flock of other girls, all dressed more or less alike in loose dresses, aprons, shawls, and kerchiefs, coming from other buses or on foot. My helpers kept me in the middle of their group and moved us all to the center of the crowd as we passed through the gates of the fort. I held my breath when I crossed the threshold, but the guards didn’t look twice at us.