“Kyra. Kyra, wake up.”
The world fell into place slowly. Something hard and unforgiving was under my head. Worried voices washed over me. Pain in my cheek.
“What happened?” I mumbled and cracked my eyes open, then raised a heavy hand to cover them as I squinted at the sudden brightness.
I was lying on the wooden floor of the stage, and Papá and Desmarc bent over me. Behind them, the meridians, the Prime Meridian, and a few others watched me with wide eyes.
“Papá, you’re safe,” I whispered.
“Thanks to you.” He squeezed my shoulder gently.
The memory of Hiram wrestling with the murderer on the roof and my knife sailing through the air rushed back, and I sat up with a gasp. “Where’s Hiram?” I held a hand to my forehead until everything righted itself. My fingers came away sticky with blood, reminding me of my injury.
“If you’re talking about that Blue Cape, he’s with the suspect.” Desmarc’s stiff tone helped clear the fog in my brain.
“You mean, we caught the killer?” With Papá supporting one side and Desmarc the other, I clambered to my feet.
Desmarc tilted his head to the left, where Hiram stood talking to one of his men. Behind him, two Blue Capes flanked the handcuffed murderer, and a ring of them surrounded the stage, keeping the crowd and reporters at bay.
As if he’d been watching the whole time, Hiram’s gaze flicked to mine, and the moment our eyes met, relief flooded me. He was all right. Papá was all right. I was all right. And we’d caught the murderer. Everything was going to be fine.
Hiram fought his way through the crowd of reporters and spectators toward me. I pulled free of Papá and Desmarc and shuffled down the stairs to meet him.
Papá reached for me. “Kyra, don’t.”
“Gideon, we need to talk,” the Prime Meridian called behind me.
I ignored them as I stumbled down the stairs. I couldn’t calm down until I knew Hiram was safe—knew more than just by looking at him, and I probably only had a minute or so before Papá would come for me.
My feet got caught in my skirt on the steps, and I tumbled forward into a pair of strong arms that caught me easily. Heart pounding, I met Hiram’s gaze. His arms tightened around me for a moment so brief I might have imagined it, then he helped me stand on my own again and took a step back.
Disappointment flared through me, bright and hot.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” With my heart in my throat, my voice came out breathy.
Hiram’s attention fell to my stinging cheek, and he clenched his jaw and surveyed the rest of me. The attention felt more intimate than any touch. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I jumped in on my own.”
“Typical Poppy.” He gave me a tired grin. “That’s something I admire as much as I hate.”
“Are you all right?” My gaze traveled over him greedily, taking in every detail from his disheveled hair to the scrapes on his forehead and a bloody scratch on one arm. His pants were dusty, and his blue cape had a few tears in it.
He exhaled heavily. “I am now. But when I saw you go down, I thought the worst,” he said. “I would’ve never forgiven myself if something had happened to you because of me.”
His words caused my heart to do a strange flip-flop. “It wasn’t your fault. You were the reason the man missed us.”
Hiram met my gaze again, and for a moment, time stood still. Looking at him, all ruggedly handsome, brave, and smart, made my chest squeeze painfully.
A heavy arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me away from Hiram. “You shouldn’t have involved my daughter in any of this.” Papá’s jaw clenched.
The sudden intrusion jarred me back to reality and the fact that I was in public—very much in public—and everyone had seen what just happened.
“I’m sorry,” Hiram murmured with another glance at me.
I gave him a sad smile. No point protecting his promise to keep things a secret now that the screw was out of the bot. I tried to pull away, but Papá’s grip was too firm and I was still too weak. “It wasn’t his fault, Papá,” I said. “I wanted to help.”
Papá’s grip around my arm tightened. “Don’t say anything else, Kyra.”
“How long has Meridian Annandale’s daughter been working with the Iron Watch?” a reporter shouted, having broken through the Blue Cape’s temporary barrier. A swarm of them had made it through, and now we were surrounded by a horde of shouted questions.
“No comment.” Papá’s voice was hard, but with frustration for me or the reporters it was hard to tell. “And we won’t be answering any questions at this time.”
“Is this the man behind the string of murders in the city?”
“What sort of weapon is that?”
“How long have you two secretly been courting?”
The last question could’ve knocked me over if not for Papá’s support. It was preposterous to think of Hiram courting me. I was engaged to be married to someone else.
“They aren’t.” Desmarc appeared on my other side and claimed my hand. “Kyra is engaged to me.”
Hiram glanced at me, his dusty, scratched cheeks betraying just the faintest hint of a blush. In return, my heart skipped a beat. That one look sent my walls crumbling down. A simple question and the sight of Hiram’s blushing face smashed to pieces the ignorance I’d been fighting so hard for.
This whole time I’d thought of Hiram as a friend—someone precious to me who saw me as I truly was and encouraged me to be more than I thought I could. But I was wrong.
At some point, I’d crossed the line and started to care for him more than I should.
Maybe I’d fallen for him the moment he’d believed me at the Iron Watch when no one else had. Or maybe it was when he’d agreed to let me help him because he’d seen me as someone who could be more than I was. Or when he’d played with those children and spoken so passionately about reforming the Lower Chimes. I’d been falling for Hiram since the moment I met him.
Hiram opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally saying, “This is the suspect for the last few murders. We’ll take him to the Iron Watch, and further details will be released at a later time since it is an ongoing investigation.”
Desmarc glared at the suspect, or maybe he was glaring at Hiram. But looking at him, then down at our clasped hands, brought reality crashing back as painful as that piece of flying shrapnel earlier. No matter what I felt for Hiram, I was engaged. I couldn’t hurt Desmarc or Papá’s chances at becoming Prime Meridian.
Next to me, Papá and Desmarc discussed what to do, but I focused on Hiram.
“Is this also the person responsible for the murder earlier today that caused a panic?”
“What about the weapon? Is that some sort of new aether technology?”
“And how long have you been working with Kyra Annandale?” another reporter shouted. “What sort of relationship do the two of you have?”
“Relationship?” Hiram floundered, as if forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to be responding. “We aren’t in any sort of relationship aside from a professional one.”
His words were like a wrench in the gears of my heart, making them grind to a painful stop. Of course we were just in a professional relationship. Just because I’d developed feelings for Hiram didn’t mean he had. After all, he’d known I was engaged the whole time. Unlike me, he’d been smart to protect his heart.
The reporters turned to me, and the shouting intensified.
“Why did you decide to get involved?”
“How long have you been unfaithful to your fiancé?”
The questions came like an unforgiving avalanche, and I flinched under their weight.
“I said we won’t be taking any more questions right now.” Papá pulled me to the side, shielding me with his body, and I let him. My feet seemed to be working independently of my body while I processed this strange revelation. “Kyra, can you walk?”
“Yes.” Briefly, my gaze met Desmarc’s, and I dropped my eyes hastily. Despite our engagement, I’d let myself develop feelings for another. I turned away from the reporters to hide my face.
Prime Meridian Emerson gaped at the crowds. The media’s attention had shifted to the murderer and scandal and away from the debate. More officers came to escort the killer, and one came forward holding a gun with an energy core that emitted a pulsating blue glow.
I glanced over my shoulder once more and Hiram’s gaze found mine. My heart soared and dipped in quick succession. Yes, I cared for him, but this was the end of it. I couldn’t allow it to go any further, not when I’d already promised myself to Desmarc. We had a future we were working toward, one with a purpose I truly cared for—a purpose Hiram had helped me discover. If I chose the man I should care for instead of the one I actually cared for, I could still make this work, for everyone’s sake.
From that moment forward, I wouldn’t allow myself to work with Hiram. I needed to stop before my feelings got any more out of hand. Besides, we’d caught the murderer; there was no need to see him again.
My heart twisted painfully at the thought, like when I caught my finger in a clamp.
“Are you all right?” Desmarc asked.
“Yes, just a bit of pain.” I pressed a hand to my forehead so he’d think I was talking about that.
“Here, let me bandage your cheek.”
Desmarc borrowed a first aid kit from a nearby Blue Cape and tended to my wound. I peeked over my shoulder for one last glimpse of Hiram while he fended off more questions from the reporters.
Today would be the last time I’d see Hiram Atwood.