“Will we come back here?” I asked.
“Not right away,” Nikola said. “We’ll meet at a safe house and regroup.”
I’d never been one for backing down from a challenge, so I found that I couldn’t argue with the plan. But letting someone else take a risk felt much more uncomfortable than taking one on my own.
As the day progressed, Nikola’s associates visited the warehouse, hauling large packages off the shelves that lined one wall. A small group collected so many packages that they had to use a cart to carry them out.
“What are they doing?” I asked Nikola.
“Getting pamphlets for tomorrow,” she told me, wiping her forehead. I was almost relieved to see that she perspired the same as anyone else. When she noticed that the group with the cart had returned for more packages of pamphlets, she waved one of them over. “Columbia!”
I was confused when a pretty boy trotted up to us. But as the figure got closer, I realized it was one of the girls who worked above the gambling den—the one who had let us use her room. She had her glossy brown hair pulled up and hidden in a cap, and she wore baggy clothes that concealed the shape of her body. I started to thank her for allowing us to displace her when Nikola pulled her close and pressed a hard, hungry kiss to her lips.
“Oh,” I managed to say.
Columbia wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned at me. She had an amber-beige complexion, and even without makeup, she was stunning. “You’re awfully cute,” she said.
I could hear Ezra muffling laughter nearby, and I fought the urge to throw something at him. “Um, thank you,” I said, trying not to stutter. “For your hospitality. And … that gracious observation.”
“My word,” Columbia said to Nikola with a giggle. “They really are all like that.”
“Hopelessly,” Nikola agreed. “Josephine, you’ll be distributing pamphlets with Columbia before we begin the demonstration so that everyone watching has supporting materials to read and take home. Try to get them to your former schoolmates. We have plenty.”
“Radicalizing your old friends?” Columbia asked appreciatively.
This time I did stammer. “Y-yes, I hope. That’s my goal.”
“Good,” she said. “We could use more support from within the House.”
I grew bolder in response to her casual confidence. “It’s more than that,” I said. “I want to save them. They don’t understand what radiance is really doing. The House is all they’ve ever known.”
“Cuteandsmart,” Columbia said, giving me a wink. She dashed off, yelping playfully when Nikola smacked her bottom.
Nikola watched me as I tried to collect myself. She looked like she expected me to comment on what had just transpired.
I said, “She seems nice.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Nikola said with a snort. “She’s an absolute terror. Would you like to go see the exposition grounds? I could use some fresh air.”
“Do we really have time for that?” Julian called to us nervously. He had an uncanny ability to monitor everything happening around him at all times.
“There’s nothing else we can do. The prototype is behaving, the pamphlets are making their way to the staging areas, and I’ve been hearing my speech in my dreams for weeks. The horses and drivers will arrive at midnight. Best to rest before then.”
Ezra nudged Julian, coaxing him to stop checking the cable connections for the fifth time. “Sit down a while.”
Julian allowed Ezra to drag him to a mattress on the floor. “Should you really be gallivanting around the city today?” he asked Nikola.
“A carriage ride will clear my head,” she insisted, taking me by the elbow. Her expression shifted. “She ought to see more of the city, don’t you think?”
I didn’t understand what she meant, but Julian seemed to. He sighed and nodded, waving us off. “Yes, I suppose so.”
Nikola drove us in a two-wheel chaise, occasionally praising the pretty bay mare named Almond who seemed delighted to be out on the road. I much preferred the open-air ride to the stuffy coach I’d shared with Julian and Ezra. Across the bridge over the Sterling River, we whisked by storefronts and offices, the shape of the city changing as we approached the prosperous center. In the distance, a handful of skyscrapers soared ten stories high. Beyond them, I made out the shape of the House of Industry and looked away.
As we neared the exposition grounds, the streets became crowded with all manner of vehicles and people on foot. There was an unmistakable air of anticipation. And I’d never seen so many extravagant hats. Despite everything at stake, I felt buoyant. I felt like anything was possible.
“You seem like you know your way around,” I said to Nikola.
“I was obsessed with maps as a child.” She shouted at someone to make way, then turned back to me. “I memorized the whole of Sterling City by the time I was five. It took a bit of getting used to once I returned, but yes—I could navigate this city with my eyes closed.”
