“Why?” Hiram helped me back to my feet.
“I don’t know.” I shoved the scrap of paper at him so he could read the words and pulled my glove back on. Despite how real everything had felt in the memory, there was no blood on my hands from the woman’s wound.
A headache radiated behind my eyes, but I didn’t have time for the pain.
Hiram read it, his brow furrowing. “This murder was just a distraction to draw attention away from the debate.”
My breath caught, and I pushed through two officers guarding the alley entrance and took off down the street. My footsteps slapped heavily against the cobblestone, matching the pounding in my head.
I remembered Papá’s tired I love you, Kyra, the bags under his eyes, and his overprotectiveness. Since Mamá’s death, he’d become my shadow, smothering every ounce of freedom I craved. All I’d wanted was to get away, when I should’ve just told him the truth.
He was far from perfect, but he was my father. I’d seen a spark of the old Papá from my memories at the debate today—the one who listened and cared—and I couldn’t lose him now. He was all I had left, and no matter how tangled things had gotten between us, he was my family.
“Poppy, wait!” Hiram called after me.
But I couldn’t wait. I wouldn’t. Not when Papá’s life hung in the balance.
He caught up a minute later, his long strides eating the distance between us.
“Don’t try to stop me.”
“I’m not going to stop you.” He rested a hand on the hilt of his saber as we ran. “I’m coming with you.”
I blinked at him, taken aback by how he wasn’t like everyone else in my life. Hiram never held me back. My chest ached from a combination of fear and exhaustion even though I hadn’t been moving that long, and my headache grew worse. Something was wrong with me since I’d Slipped, but I didn’t have time to think about it now.
We took off running again, darting through the crowds. My breath exploded with each gasp. My corset felt like it was closing in around me, making it harder and harder to breathe as my fear grew bolder. It nipped at my heels and urged me forward while adrenaline powered my steps. I gasped out the story between ragged breaths while we ran, doing my best to describe the killer’s disguise and why I thought he was targeting Papá.
In less than ten minutes, we were back at the edge of the city center. Meridian Eliver’s voice reached me as he talked about specific reforms for the city. The crowd was too thick for me to see Papá, but some of the paralyzing tightness in my chest eased. If Papá was injured, the debate wouldn’t still be running.
Prime Meridian Emerson cleared his throat. “What steps would you propose for encouraging the aforementioned reform of our city’s education?”
I glanced at the Epoch Clock, whole large metal hands revealed it was twelve fifty. Only ten minutes left before the killer would strike again. I had to get Papá off the stage.
I pushed my way through the throng as the men took turns answering the question. Their words went in one ear and out the other, the pounding of my heart drowning everything out. The crowd swelled and contracted around me like a living entity trying to keep me from reaching Papá. I shoved and sidestepped around people. My pulse racing as my anxiety spiked.
Nine minutes left until the murderer would strike again.
The cacophony of voices melted into a disorienting dissonance, and panic clawed its way up my throat.
A hand grabbed my arm and jerked me back. “Poppy, wait,” Hiram said.
“Wait for what? To watch Papá die?” I tried to squirm out of his grip.
“Give me a minute to search for the killer,” he pleaded. “This could be our chance to arrest and keep him from killing anyone else. If you go up there and alert your father and the rest of the crowd, he’ll slip away.”
“But what if you fail?” I yanked free, almost losing my balance, and tried to push through the crowd again. “What if you don’t find him in time?”
We had eight minutes to find the killer.
Hiram grabbed me again, spun me around, and placed both hands on my arms. “Do you trust me?”
Having my own words thrown back at me stopped me cold.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still while I stared into his eyes—eyes that begged me to believe in him. Trusting him meant I risked losing the only family I had left. But after how much blind trust he’d shown me, how could I not trust him?
I swallowed and nodded once, then whispered, “Yes.”
“Then let me do my job, Kyra.” He squeezed my shoulders, his expression betraying nothing but confidence and determination. “Give me and my men a chance to end this once and for all.”
I opened my mouth to ask what his plan was, but the explanation would only take more time. Instead, I let the warmth of his fingers bleed through my clothes and filter through the cold wrapping around me. “Don’t forget about his disguise.”
“I won’t.” He squeezed my shoulders one last time, then let go. “Thank you, Kyra. You did a great job getting us this far, but now it’s our turn.”
He spun without another word, the soft material of his cape brushing against my bare arms. Every part of him seemed taut, from his expression, to his shoulders, to the way his hand rested on his saber as he stalked down the stairs to meet up with a few other Blue Capes.
Seven minutes left until time ran out.
Were they being too obvious in their search, or did it just seem that way to me because I knew the truth?
My gaze flicked to Papá. I’d promised Hiram I wouldn’t rush onto the stage and give it away, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get closer. I pushed my way through the swarm of people and prayed to whoever might be listening that Hiram found the killer in time.
The clock read six to one.
“If I were elected to become the Prime Meridian, I would work to put a stop to the resurrection of prejudicial crimes that have plagued the city,” Meridian Lambkins said. “Like the recent killings in the Middle Chimes.”
I made it back to the front, and Desmarc grabbed my arm.
“Kyra, are you all right now?” he asked. “Your face is quite red.”
“I’m still not feeling well,” I admitted as I scanned the area around Papá, except now it was true. My headache was worse, and my entire body ached as if I were coming down with a sickness. I blinked and shook my head to focus.