Theo heard a scream as he rounded the corner on his way back to the Daedalus. Moments later, there were shouts and another scream, a woman’s. He ran toward the next block, then came to a stop. Down a dark alleyway with just a gas lamp for light were three figures. Wait, no, four. There was someone on the ground.

Theo sprinted down the alley, his hand already balling into a fist and his top hat flying off his head. When he was younger, he’d been involved in an unsanctioned club for fisticuffs at his boarding school. Over the years, it had come in handy, and he hoped it would help him now.

He reached the brawl and took in the scene: a small woman on the ground in the shadows with three thugs around her.

They turned and one let out a curse as Theo sent his fist hurtling toward the man’s chin. A crack ricocheted across the alley as the man’s eyes rolled up into his head, the punch sending him flying to the ground beside the woman trying to crawl away.

The second man came at him.

“What’s an echelon doing in this part of the city?” the second man sneered. He lashed out to strike Theo, but Theo knocked the arm away, then slammed his fist into the man’s gut. The man bent over with a cry and stumbled back.

Theo sank back into his waiting stance, knees slightly bent, fists ready.

The third man lifted his hands up and took a step back. “Hey, I don’t want any part of this.” He turned and ran the other way.

Theo had half a mind to chase down the coward, but he didn’t want to leave the woman alone—

The glint of reddish-gold curls made him suck in his breath. “Cass?” he whispered. A red haze spread across his eyes as an uncontrollable fire erupted inside his body, a fire he had never experienced before.

The second man slowly rose, but Theo sent him lurching back with a punch to the face. The man slid down the wall and lay still. Theo shook in anger as he stared at the two men lying on the ground. He wanted to beat them until they never moved again. A whimper broke his mindset.

“Cass!” he cried and ran to her.

She tried to lift her head. “Theo?”

“Gales,” he said under his breath as he bent down beside her. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her swollen lip, and her eye was already turning black. There was a tear along her blouse and another bruise along her arm.

“I got lost,” she said, her eyes dazed and trying to focus. “And there were three of them. If there had been one or two . . .”

“Let’s get you out of here.” He reached for her arm, but she flinched away.

“Let me do it. Let me stand on my own.”

He frowned.

She looked at him tearfully. “Please.”

He realized what she was asking, and he moved back.

Cass placed one knee beneath her, then pushed up with her arms. Her body trembled, but she managed to stand. She wobbled to the street ahead, toward the lights and wide open area. Theo followed, his hand hovering, waiting to catch her if she fell.

She never did. Instead, they finally reached the street, where Cass sat down along the edge of the gutter and hid her face in her hands.

Theo sat down beside her and waited. He wanted to put his arm around her shoulders and comfort her but had a feeling it would be brushed away, so instead he sat beside her, silently, and waited.

Minutes passed before she lifted her head. She glanced over at him, a definite dark ring appearing around her right eye. “Thank you.”

That same red haze began to fill his vision, but he composed himself.

She looked down at her knees. “I think I’ve grown soft since my time on the Daedalus.” She laughed shakily. “I would have never been caught a year ago.”

“You’re in a different city. And—” Theo remembered the first time he saw her, the way she was dressed, with ragged clothes, a coat much too big for her frame, and the cap she wore over her head. “You’re dressed differently.”

Cass touched the skirt pooled around her legs. “Blasted skirt,” she muttered. “I don’t like being weak. I’ve always taken care of myself.” Her voice grew determined. “I won’t let this happen again.”

“You’re not weak. In fact, you’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”

She glanced at him with an unreadable expression.

“Look at you.” He waved his hand at her. “You’re a diver, and you lived on the streets before that. I don’t think even most men of my acquaintance could do that.”

“But I needed your help back there,” she protested. “If you hadn’t come . . .”

“Accepting help doesn’t make you weak. It’s like catching your breath so you can stand up again and help others. When one person is down, the other one is up.”

“That’s an interesting way of putting it.”

Theo smiled, and the corner of her lip turned upward as well. “Come on, we should get back to the ship. You’re going to need something for those cuts and that eye.”

She gingerly touched the lower edge of her eye. “How bad does it look?”

Theo hesitated, then reached out his hand. He’d never touched a woman’s face before, except for family. He gently touched her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm, and her eyes still bright green in the gaslight. “It’s not bad,” he said. He withdrew his hand, heat rising up along his neck and cheeks. “I’m sure it will heal quickly.”

“That’s good. Although I’ll bet there will be a lot of questions when the crew gets back.” She pushed up from the ground. “We should go.” Her eyes darted to her attackers. “Before those men wake up.”

Theo looked over his shoulder. “You’re right. But if they’re smart, they won’t come after us.” He stood up and held out his arm to Cass.

Cass shook her head. “I would rather walk on my own.”

“I’m not offering to help you. I’m offering my arm as a gentleman to a lady.”

She paused, then took a tentative step forward and placed her arm under his. Once again he was reminded of how short she was. He guided them toward the right and started down the street. They were only a few blocks from the docks. The presence of the men must have turned Cass around.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” she asked.

“In school.”

She looked at him, and he laughed.

“I went to an all-boys boarding school, and a handful of us were part of a fight club during the evenings.”

“What was school like?”

It dawned on him that, of course, she hadn’t been to school. In fact, he hardly knew anything of her past other than she had spent time on the streets, then became a diver on the Daedalus. He didn’t even know if she had any family.

“It was . . .” Fun? Sometimes. Lonely? Many times. But something every young man from a prestigious family attended. “I learned a lot. But I went to live back at my family’s home for university.”

“University?”

“Yes. Browning, in Belhold.”

“That’s a lot of learning.”

“Yes, I suppose so. What about you?”

She glanced up at him. “What about me?”

He felt her body tighten under his arm and questioned whether he should have asked. “Just curious.”

But eventually Cass began to talk. “My family constantly moved when I was a child. We were poor and could only live near the border. Every time we heard rumors of a Purge, my father packed us up, and we left to find another place to live in. Until one night there was an unexpected Purge. My parents hid me, then left our flat. They sacrificed themselves to draw attention away from me. I lived along the borders of Belhold until almost a year ago when Captain Gresley brought me onboard the Daedalus.”

Theo’s heart tore at her words. “When did that happen? The Purge, I mean.”

Cass stared straight ahead. “I was fourteen.”

Fourteen? So young.

“I survived on the streets for almost four years.”

So she was eighteen or nineteen. He mentally shook his head. He couldn’t even imagine. His and Adora’s childhoods had been very different in comparison. How many other people experienced that kind of life? He knew not everyone went to school, but even those in a lesser station were trained to work, either in shops or at the factories. Cass had grown up with nothing but her wits and luck.

They reached the docks without incident.

Cass suddenly spoke up again. “Captain Gresley was teaching me how to read.”

“Oh?” That was interesting.

“But then he”—her voice caught—“passed away, and I haven’t really picked up a book since then.”

He stopped walking and looked at her. “Would you like to keep learning?”

Cass gasped. “Oh, yes!” she said, her face glowing despite her blackt eye and swollen, discolored lip. “More than anything. I didn’t realize what I had until it was gone.”

He knew she was speaking about more than just reading. “I would be happy to teach you. Let’s take a look at what books Captain Gresley was using in the morning. But for now”—he began escorting her again—“let’s get you back to the Daedalus and have your wounds tended to.”

He led Cass down the walkway toward the floating ship moored at the end. As they neared the plank, he sent up a small prayer of thankfulness that he’d reached Cass in time.