In a few moments, Tock could be shot.
In a few moments, he could be, too.
He could surrender, but no—he was wanted dead or alive. That would only doom them both. He needed a bigger distraction. A bigger play. And he needed it now.
The whiteboots raised their guns, and Levi drove again. He’d circle the roundabout over and over if he had to. A bullet punctured his front tire, sending the car into a tilt and spin. Levi cursed as the world funneled around him—buildings and river, buildings and river. He slammed the brakes and slid to a stop mere feet from the Brint’s edge.
I should make my escape, he thought.I should run and trust Tock to do the same.
But Tock had told him she would blow up the bridge, and he trusted her word more than any other part of his plan. And so he wouldn’t abandon her.
Just as the whiteboots raised their guns again, and as Levi braced himself for another stomach-lurching turn around the circle, he spotted Enne behind the building beside him. She motioned to the left, but there was nothing to his left but the river. Then she screamed something at him, and it took him a moment to make out her words.
“Get out!” In her right hand, she waved a gun.
But the whiteboots were already firing, and so Levi could do nothing but duck. The glass windshield shattered.
Then he spotted something on the floor. A history book, thicker than a North Side brick.
Levi lurched open the driver’s side door, slammed the book down on the gas pedal, and flung himself out of the motorcar. He hollered in pain when he landed on his side, then swallowed it down as he shakily got to his feet. The car sped forward, and the whiteboots leaped to get out of its path. Levi sprinted to the right, in the direction of Enne, but just before he reached out to grab her and pull her away with him, she fired her gun.
Her bullet hit the motorcar just as it slammed into the roundabout’s obelisk, and Lola’s shiny black Houssen exploded into flames.
“Nice shot,” he said in awe.
“Terrible driving,” she answered.
BOOM!
It was the loudest, sweetest sound Levi had ever heard. The streets around them shook violently as Revolution Bridge collapsed inward on itself, wires snapping and columns crumbling into the murky waters of the Brint. Levi would’ve waited to watch every single stone fall, but Enne’s hand was already pulling him into a run. They turned a corner and met up with the other girls.
We did it, he thought, victoriously punching the air in front of him.
Then Enne slapped him across the face.
He stared at her for a moment, shocked. “What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his bruised cheek.
“That was for Lola’s motorcar.”
She slapped him a second time.
“And that was for almost getting killed.”
“I told her I’d buy her a new one,” he said sheepishly. To her other point, he had no defense.
“We should get back to the museum,” Grace said. “The whiteboots will be looking for you.”
“I need to wait for Tock,” Levi told her.
“Tock ended up on the South Side. They’ll close all the bridges and ferries,” Lola countered. “What’s she gonna do? Swim?”
Levi plucked a shard of glass off his suit jacket. “I can’t see Tock missing a party.”
“Then we should wait for her there. That’s where she’d go.”
Levi hated that they were right. Right now, the Irons were probably popping champagne bottles and cheering at the black-stained sky. Somewhere across the city, Jonas was scowling, and Harrison was impressed. Levi had won his wager with the other lords and earned himself the respect he’d always wanted from the North Side, but none of that would matter if Tock had paid the ultimate price for it.
But she’d asked him to trust her. And so Levi swallowed down his nerves and followed the girls home.
