The Skywayman nods as he rummages around in his things. “I’m not. I’ve broken into a lot of very fancy places above the skyline with alotof security, and all they’re hoarding is cash. So it definitely occurred to me that something as ‘sacred and holy’—and by that, I of course mean invaluable and wildly private—as the Gate of Heaven would have an extra barrier or two.”
I walk a little way to the left and then back to the right, running my hand across the solid, transparent surface. “So this is some kind of… invisible wall?”
“More or less, yeah.” He glances up as Dani puts her shoulder against the barrier and shoves against it. “I wouldn’t try pushing through it if I were you. We have no idea how it might respond to… force.”
Dani quickly steps away.
I move up next to him, watching him select three differentpieces from his rucksack and start fitting them together with quick, sure movements. “You’ve got another way in.”
“It’s kind of why you recruited me in the first place, right? I have, once or twice, needed to cut my way through Trinity’s alloy—”
“Nothing cuts through the alloy,” Dani counters briskly. “Big Haul tried a million ways to slice open the aqueducts around Covenant, and it never worked.”
“Lucky me, I tried a million andoneways, I guess.” He winks at her and holds up the device in his hands. It looks like a tiny saw, but it’s circular in shape, with a hollow handle that glows like there’s a tiny naphtha engine inside it. I didn’t even know it was possible to make naphtha sources that small. “My own creation and design. Specifically for tricky situations just like this.”
I frown at the little saw and then up at the covered aqueducts nearby. One for water, one for naphtha—both of which continue on north toward the Gate. They’re a lot bigger up here than they are down by Covenant. Twice as tall as me and just as wide.
I raise my eyebrows. “We’re getting in through the aqueduct?”
A wide grin splits Orion’s face. “We’re getting in through the aqueduct.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“AS IT SAYS IN THE SACRED LAW, ALL WATER IS BLESSED OF THE HERALDS; THEREFORE, THIS HOLY GIFT MUST BE RATIONED AND DISTRIBUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A CITY’S OFFERING AMOUNTS, CHAPEL ATTENDANCE, AND ADHERENCE TO THE HERALDS’ LAW.”
—HERALDIC MINISTRY OFFICIAL DECREE (YEAR 12)
You’re sure this is safe?”
Dani peers into the hole that Orion cut into the side of the aqueduct. The sun is so low on the horizon now that there’s hardly any light left to see and definitely not enough to illuminate the pitch-dark inside of the tunnel beyond. All we have to go by is the sound of water gurgling along the bottom.
“You want the honest answer or the slightly less honest answer?” Orion ties off his pack and slings it over his shoulders. “We’re trying to march on the Gate of Heaven, Morales. I don’t think there’s a fully safe option.”
“How did you even know it would be empty enough to move through?” I ask.
“Don’t tell me I’m the only one who ever banged on one of these to see if it was hollow.” He raps his knuckles against the aqueduct’s side, the impact making a deep, resonant bong. “Plus, logically, it can’t be full to the brim and flowing all the time. More likely that water and naphtha are doled out at regular intervals, you know?”
“Okay, then, Skywayman.” Dani flashes him a sharp grin. “You first.”
I step forward before he can move, securing my goggles over my eyes. “No. I’ll take point. You two stay close behind me.”
I phase into the aqueduct, doing a sweeping check of the interior before motioning for the others to follow. Dani clambers in, muttering about me being a “show-off,” and then Orion next. He pulls up the section of metal that he cut and uses yet another item from his thievery kit to solder it back into place.
“Great,” Dani grumbles as even that one spare rectangle of ambient light goes dark. “Now I can’t see anything at all.”
I ignore her, dropping to my knees in the water that’s flowing along the bottom of the aqueduct. It’s cold and quick and only about a foot deep, and I immediately dip my hands into it, scooping big gulps into my mouth until my stomach feels full to bursting and the chill of it travels all down my limbs. I can’t see well enough in here even with my goggles, but it tastes so clear and clean that it’s almost sweet. The air around us is cool as well—chilly, even—and I shiver as it collides with my sweat-slick skin.
“I didn’t know water could taste like this,” Orion says, sounding almost giddy, and I can hear Dani drinking greedily. Our voices, every movement we’re making, echo loudly against the metal sides of the aqueduct.
“Tell me about it.” There’s a soft pop as Dani unstoppers her canteen and pushes it down into the water. “Every water ration I ever had tasted like dust. You think skyliners get to drink water like this all the time?”
“Of course they do. They’re the ones who are blessed, right?” I get back to my feet, hooking my own refilled canteen to my belt. Ahead of us, the aqueduct stretches off into the distance; there’s no sign of a barrier like the one outside and Trinity’s song has softened back into its usual melody. “Orion, if you’re wrong about this, we’re about to have the shortest trip ever.”
“They won’t block the aqueducts,” Orion says, water sloshing around his ankles as he stands. “And they won’t expect anyone to come up them, either.”
I don’t ask who this invisibletheymight be—I doubt he knows any more than I do—but we both know there’ssomethingwaiting up ahead. I can feel it lurking just out of sight, waiting for its moment to strike.
Putting my hands out in front of me, I take a tentative step forward. And then another. And then another. Expecting at any moment to hit a wall or a grate or something that will keep us from going any farther.
