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Without hesitating any longer, he reached for her, and in one swift and sure movement he swiped at her, hitting the point on the side of her neck that would stun her into unconsciousness. When Ruby began to collapse, he released his hold on the light and reached for her, catching her before she could fall. The pistol she’d been holding tumbled from her hand and landed in the middle of the chaos below.
The man she had been holding at gunpoint startled but caught himself on the edge of the building before he fell. As Jianyu pulled Ruby to safety, Morgan’s son managed to climb back inside the tower. He froze when he saw Jianyu crouched over Ruby, trying to wake her, and there was such hatred in his eyes that it felt like an actual slap.
“Filthy maggot,” the Morgan heir said, glaring at the two of them. He inched around the top of the tower, avoiding Jianyu.
It did not matter that he had just saved this man’s life. Morgan’s son, like his father before him, would never believe that there was any good in those with the old magic.
“I give you your life, and still you hate us?” he wondered.
Morgan’s son did not answer. He stayed silent, cowering in the corner.
Beyond, the city looked like it was aflame. From that height, Jianyu could see the entire expanse of streets. The neatly laid-out lines looked like a grid of molten gold, and beyond, the Brink had become a wall of power and light. It was shuddering with the power being channeled into it, and Jianyu realized that the streets themselves were answering in reply.
He felt something more then. The building beneath him was quaking, and the tower was beginning to sway.
This is how he will do it. The realization was both immediate and terrible.
“Why have they not stopped the ritual?” Jianyu demanded.
“I bet that’s exactly why you’re here, isn’t it? To stop the ritual. To watch the Brink fall,” Junior sneered.
“I do not want the Brink to fall this night,” Jianyu said. “You must tell me how it works. Where is the power coming from? Why has it not stopped?”
“Lies,” Junior said. “I won’t fall for your tricks. I’m not telling you anything.”
“You do not understand,” Jianyu said, pointing out over the city toward the wavering wall of power beyond. “Look at the streets. They are near to breaking apart. This cannot be what you intended.”
Junior did look, and his expression clouded.
“The Brink cannot fall,” Jianyu told him. “If it does, so too does the city. So too does all of creation.”
“You’re lying,” Junior told him, but there was fear in his eyes now—more fear than there had been a second before. “I know your type. This is some kind of trickery. You and the Reynolds chit are in this together. You’re trying to confuse me. Well, I won’t be confused. I won’t be distracted.”
Distraction. How had they not seen it? The attack was nothing more than misdirection.
They had been trying to discover what Jack would do to destroy the Brink. They had imagined he might use some ritual, perhaps even his great machine, but the truth was there—clear as the night sky above. He would destroy the Order with its own weapon. Ruby’s attack on Junior had afforded the necessary distraction, and now, as energy continued to pour into the streets, Jack would simply allow it to become overloaded.
It happened all the time in the city. The fragile electrical grid would overload with energy, and the lights would flicker and dim from the excess. The same would happen to the Brink if they did not stop it.
“Do you not see what is happening?” Jianyu asked. “We must stop the ritual.”
The ground was rumbling unsteadily beneath them, but Junior’s eyes hardened. “There’s the truth. You want me to stop the ritual because you want to destroy us. I won’t. I won’t have any part of this.”
“You are a fool,” Jianyu said, knowing their time was running out.
Below, another of the smoke beasts emerged, climbing up over the edge of the building from the street below. Thrown over its shoulder was Cela. She dangled unconscious, not fighting her captor.
She was not supposed to be there. Abel was supposed to take her back to the wagon to wait.… Unless the beasts had found them before they made it. He had to get to them, to get to her.
He took Ruby into his arms and wrapped his affinity around himself. He realized quickly that her weight would only slow him down, and Cela could not wait. Instead of carrying Ruby down to the rooftop, he found an alcove to tuck her into far enough back from the ledge that she would be safe. Then he ran. Junior could fend for himself. Below, the beasts of smoke were still raging, and his friends needed help.
WHERE MAGIC LIVES
Esta could do no more than watch as the smoke from the cauldrons transformed itself into beasts. Viola and Jianyu both had tried to describe these monsters, but watching the fog gather itself into solid, tangible creatures was something altogether different. All around her, the rooftop was awash in confusion as the Order and their guests attempted to escape. The robed men and women of the various Brotherhoods pushed and shoved, trampling over one another in a desperate attempt to reach the steps first.
But not everyone was lucky enough to get out. The beasts weren’t attacking haphazardly, Esta realized. They were specifically going after the men on the stage. Jack was attacking the leaders of the Order—the men known as the Inner Circle—just as they’d predicted. One of the larger of the monsters had cornered J. P. Morgan and was herding him toward the edge of the roof. Morgan was attempting to use a folding chair to fend off the attack, but it was useless against the creatures. With each swing, the chair cut through the smoke, and the monster re-formed. With each swing, he stepped back, closer to the edge.
Another of the beasts had the High Princept. It had lifted the old man over its shoulder and was carrying him across the roof like a rag doll.
