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“If Gunner finds that kid shirkin’, he’ll wring the poor bastard’s neck,” Briggs grunted when the lift doors clanged open.

“Perhaps he didn’t hear you knockin’ at his door, Nina,” Scottie mused. “Must have one hell of a sore head this mornin’.”

“That makes us a pair,” Briggs grumbled.

I scowled down at the gaping darkness of the tunnel. I pictured Theo as he had been the night before, stumbling away into the night.

“Ain’t much point in havin’ you down here today, Nina,” Scottie said. “We can’t go no farther without hitting the edge of the Gyser. And we can’t burrow beneath without Teddy to control the water.”

“Go rest like Patty asked you to,” Briggs suggested, loading the mining cart with timber logs. “And if you see Theo, give him a clip round the head.”

I hurried alone back to Colson’s, the route now memorized, slow-moving dread bubbling in my chest. I intended to knock on the door of number thirteen again, perhaps kick it in. But his expression from the previous night loomed in my mind, and I became sure I wouldn’t find him there. I was suddenly horribly certain that I wouldn’t find him anywhere.

Only feet from the stoop of Colson & Sons, I halted on the cobblestones. In the dim of the nearest alley, a shadow moved. A man stubbed a cigarette out under his boot, then shifted ever so slightly into the daylight.

“Theo?” I threw a panicked glance over my shoulder, but Kenton thrummed on as normal. The trolley rattled past, and amid the clamor, I hurried into the recess between buildings where he stood.

“Where have you been?” I hissed.

He looked wretched. His face had somehow elongated in the night. He was unshaven, drawn, eyes bloodshot.

“Are you all right?”

He scoffed weakly. “Just grand.”

I glanced over my shoulder once more. We’d be easily seen here, without the cover of night. “Someone might see us.”

“Then I won’t keep you. Except to tell you goodbye.”

The dread bubbled to its peak. “Theo—”

“In truth, I should have left last night,” he continued. “But I’ve been delaying myself. I suppose I wanted to see you one last time.”

A lingering tendril of guilt swirled in my stomach.

“I can’t stand another day here, Nina.” He closed his eyes briefly. “And they’re coming for this place.”

“Theo, I’m sorry,” I blithered, snatching his sleeve when he tried to turn. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t choose—”

“Don’t,” he interjected, his voice a gavel. And I saw that bright burning pain beneath the surface. “I do want to tell you that I’m sorry for what I did last night. The way I spoke about you.”

I tried to take his hand, but he pulled it free. “Theo, you can’t leave now. We’ve found the Alchemist. He’s inDunnitch.”

He froze, and I thought I saw a spark, the cogs behind his eyes turning again. “Are you certain?”

“Yes.” A lie, but one that would buy me time. “Polly and I will have his precise whereabouts within a matter of hours.”

“And then what?” Theo asked. “You’ll confront Tanner? Barter the Alchemist for your mother?”

“Yes,” I said abruptly. “He’ll make the trade, Patrick. There is nothing he cares about more than idium.”

Theo nodded skeptically. “You might be right.”

“I am.”

“And then he’ll send his soldiers into Dunnitch, and once they find Domelius Becker, the fire Charmers will leave it burning.” Theo watchedmy expression carefully, saw the places where color bled away. “But that’s better, isn’t it?” he asked. “Something you’re more comfortable with, I suppose. Better Dunnitch than Kenton Hill.”

Bile slipped up my throat. He was right.