ONLY WHEN WE were over the Hawksbill wall and into Thornton did we discuss a plan.
“The manufacturing facilities are a block from the storage area,” I said. “One of us should focus on destroying the facilities, while the other takes out the storage.”
“Because letting you go off on your own has gone so well recently.” James shook his head. “We’ll do it together. First take out the supply, since it’s less likely to have as many guards. Then the manufacturing facility.”
“That won’t work.” I plucked at my collar, trying to cool off, but the hot, still air sat heavy in the cramped alleyway. We were on the fringes of Thornton. Greenstone, where Brooks had said the facility stood, was only a few blocks away. “If we try to take the buildings one after another, we’re more likely to get caught. And killed. I’m not willing to risk that.”
James frowned, but he wasn’t willing to risk it, either. That was why he’d come with me, after all.
“Fine,” he said at last. “But once we’re there, we stay together until the last minute.”
“All right.” I jerked my chin toward the market district again and dropped a handful of coins into his palm. “But first, we should procure the supplies. Well, you should. Even if you’re recognized, you probably won’t get into trouble.”
“Probably.” He grinned, and we discussed a few items before he strode off.
I found a crate to sit on while I waited, and a hundred dark thoughts poured at me at once. The glowmen last night. Romily. My father’s betrayal. I couldn’t even revel in the feeling of being alone again. My whole body ached, but here I was again, going out to stop one of Skyvale’s own, untouchable nobles.
I saw them when I leaned back and let my eyes skim over the rooftops. The girls. There were three this time, but I identified the nameless girl right away. She was taller than the others, with a smooth, deliberate way of moving. Her hands brushed the daggers at her hips occasionally. She touched them for reassurance, the same way I found myself touching my mask.
They were good at keeping out of the way of the mirrors, these girls. They were probably good at a lot of things.
Who were they? Who was she?
Then they were gone.
“Ready?” James’s voice came from the other end of the alley. “Or do you need a few more minutes alone with the moon?”
I shook myself and flicked my little finger at him before we divided the new supplies. “Did you have any trouble?”
“Do I ever?” James grinned. “You’re the troublemaker, if you recall. I’ve never done anything wrong in my life.”
I wanted to refute that, but he was probably right.
We spent a few minutes assembling the firebombs he’d purchased supplies for, measuring ingredients and pouring them into small glass containers. “Remember,” James said, “these will ignite on impact. Try not to let them ignite on you.”
There was a fun thought.
We fitted the vials into pockets and pouches. Four firebombs each. Four smoke bombs each. “This is it?” I asked.
“Do you have room for more?”
“Maybe if I had a better belt, like I asked for.”
“Worry about your aim, not your belt.”
“Maybe if you worried about belts more, you wouldn’t go around looking like that.” There was nothing wrong with his Indigo Order uniform, of course.
He flipped me his little finger, but the levity was shallow. We’d have to use the firebombs in just the right places if we wanted to thoroughly destroy the facilities.
Anxiety twisted through me as we made our way into Greenstone. It was bad enough I was willing to put my life at risk. But James’s, too? Hadn’t I just lost two friends?
But James was truly a fighter, and he was aware of what could happen tonight. He knew the stakes.
Together, James and I moved toward the location Brooks had given us. It wasn’t as far as the place Romily had taken me last night; that warehouse was on the river, while this was right in the center of Greenstone, surrounded by water-processing plants, textile factories, and other legitimate businesses.
We paused a block away from Hensley’s place, scanning for guards.
“There.” James pointed down the street, where a brown-jacketed man shifted his weight. “And in that window.”
“Sharp eye.”
We spotted four more, all street level. They’d be easy to sneak past if we took the long way around to the storage facilities first, but the manufacturing building was right here. Close.
It was a five-story mammoth of a structure, with a partial sixth story in the front. Moss covered the brick face. A short smokestack stood like a sentinel. Windows spread evenly over the building, though grime covered the glass, obscuring the lit interior. From this distance, I could only make out the light and huge, imposing shapes.
“Let’s head up to the roof.” I jerked my chin upward. “Maybe we can get a better idea of our surroundings. Then split up.”
He nodded, and we sneaked through the streets. In the shadows, and away from the eyes of sentries, we scaled the high factory wall, using the window ledges and brickwork to help our footing.
Wind scurried around the rooftop as we crouched low, checking for guards. Nothing. Just the sharp scent of wraith. Acrid. Eye watering. Not quite concealed by the other odors of Greenstone. When I glanced at James, he gave a clipped nod. He smelled it too.
The partial sixth story loomed on the eastern side of the building, which meant the mirrors reflected the rest of the rooftop. Not ideal, but as long as we stayed low we would be fine. There was a door there, but flattened trash and grit covered the whole roof, including in front of the door, which meant it likely hadn’t been opened in months. Longer, maybe.
“Look.” James kept the word soft as he nudged me and pointed toward the center of the roof. “A skylight.”
Finally, some good news.
Together, James and I crept across the rooftop, keeping one eye out for more guards, and one on the mirrors. The skylight was an elongated glass pyramid that sat in the center of the roof, filthy, but only because it was on the roof. We rubbed away some of the dirt and peered down into the building.
Directly below us was a large, open chamber, spanning all five stories. A dozen metal vats dominated the space, most filled with a pale, iridescent liquid like what I’d seen in Professor Knight’s vials.
“That’s it,” I muttered. “The firefly.”
James’s breath hissed through his teeth. “And that’s Lord Hensley.”
He was right. Even from above, I recognized Hensley’s broad shoulders and his confident gait as he approached one of the empty vats. No, it wasn’t empty, but whatever was inside it was dark, and half lost behind the crisscross of ladders and catwalks and platforms.
“What’s he doing?” James shifted his weight.
“Exactly what he said he does.”
Far below, Hensley pinned his good hand to his chest with his stump, and spent a few moments wiggling his fingers out of his glove. If nothing else, I’d made getting dressed in the morning more difficult for him.
But then, he pressed his hand against the side of the iron vat, and a faint red glow spread across the metal until it encompassed the whole thing. Gradually, the red turned brighter, orange then yellow then white. Somehow, the metal never buckled or rippled under the heat, but that seemed to be part of his magic. The same way he could burn just the top layer of skin, or contain a fire to only one room.
Inside the vat, the dark liquid began to bubble and lighten.
Bile raced up my throat.
Hensley had been telling the truth when he’d claimed to personally oversee the production of his product. When he’d bragged about heating the firefly to just the right temperature. He could control the heat and how it moved.
“Saints,” James breathed. His shoulders curled inward, pensive. No doubt he was thinking about the fire that raged through Lord Roth’s pre-wraith trophy room. And how Hensley had been invited to Rayner Manor again, just tonight.
We moved back from the skylight, but before we could decide who’d go to the storage facility roof, the open door caught my eye.
The Nightmare leader—the same woman Hensley had met with just over a week ago—was striding across the rooftop. Knives hung from her belt, and when she smiled, the tattoo shifted and glared at us. “Lord Hensley has been waiting for you,” she said.
James and I lurched to our feet. In the mirrors, I caught several more figures spread across the roof. They held chains and pipes and knives. Two were armed with swords.
We were surrounded.