I glared at him but otherwise ignored the mocking tone in his voice. “Tonight’s, um, adventure, only requires the four of us.” I pointed at Brigette, who stood in the balcony’s dark corner, still puffing at her cigarette. “Brigette, Taviano, Gideon, and me.”

“I do not trust that Magician.” Malita’s nose wrinkled as if she’d smelled something foul.

“Neither do I, so here’s what we’re going to do about it.” Quickly I laid out a list of duties for Malita and Niffin to complete. After repeating the list back to my satisfaction, they withdrew from the balcony, leaving me alone with Brigette.

“I don’t know exactly what to expect tonight.” I stared at the starlight flickering on the bay’s flat surface. “I’ve said before, though, that I won’t force anyone into service for me. If you want to back out, say so now.”

She joined me at the balcony’s edge, bracing her forearms on the railing. “You’ll just let me walk away?”

“Give you money for a train ticket and travel expenses too.”

“And if I took you up on your offer, then what? What would you do?”

“I’d cross my fingers and pray to every one of the elemental gods and goddesses that ever existed that they work their ways with fate and bring me another solution. Without a Magician, I don’t stand a chance. Not against Jackie and certainly not against Le Poing Fermé. I know you have an affinity for sugar, Brigette, but I won’t coat my expectations in honey to make them sweeter. The things you may be called upon to do tonight...” I let my meaning drift in the silence.

“Tonight won’t even be the worst of it,” she said. “Assuming we succeed and manage to free Jackie and get him back to Inselgrau—”

“Getting him to Inselgrau will be the easy part. I have a feeling he’ll be very eager to get there.”

She raised a finger. “But keeping him from exerting control over you during that journey could be a full-time job.”

“Can you make another charm for that?”

Her lip twitched. “Perhaps.”

“You’ve already been working on something, haven’t you?”

She stubbed out her cigarette on the balcony railing and returned the unsmoked portion to her tin. “I don’t want to raise your expectations prematurely. But if I do manage keep him from influencing you and the rest of us on our way to Inselgrau, there’s still a terrifyingly powerful cabal waiting for us when we get there.”

“Brigette, the pain...” I swallowed. “I’m not asking for self-sacrifice. If it becomes too much—”

She pressed a hand to my shoulder. “Let me be the judge of what’s too much.”

I winced, regretting my next question. “But what if the moment you decide it’s too much is the moment that brings my defeat?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Evie.” She pushed away from the railing, retreating toward the interior door. “Pray to those ancient gods that seem to be so fond of you, and beg them not to let that happen.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked as she walked away.

She shrugged. “Maybe it’s to find out which is stronger, me or the pain. Maybe I’m doing it just to prove to myself that I can.”

Her answer didn’t reassure me, but it seemed unlikely she could say anything that would. If she promised success and pledged unfailing strength, it would’ve been worse—then she would’ve revealed herself to be untrustworthy and a liar.

I followed her into the sitting room, knelt beside our box of supplies, and picked out the items I needed. “Taviano says the Council’s guards have weapons. They aren’t Magical, though.”

“So now you’d like me to make you bulletproof on top of everything else?”

I glanced at her and held my breath, waiting.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “I can work up something fairly quickly for that.”

“I’ll also need an out. I don’t trust Taviano a bit. He’s going to betray us, and I can’t afford to get trapped on that Island.”

“I thought I was your backup plan.”

I glanced at the mordid pipe resting on a side table. I would have destroyed it already if I thought she wouldn’t simply go out and buy another. “Can I depend on you?”

“You can, or you can’t. Either way, I’m all you’ve got.”

That was no answer. I harrumphed at her.

She shrugged. “Anything else?”

“Maybe one more thing.”

She exhaled loudly. “One more?”

“If it all falls apart, if everything turns to ruin and chaos, I need you to look out for Gideon.”

She coughed a startled noise.

“He’ll sacrifice himself for me. I want you to stop him before he does. No matter what, you’ve got to save him.” I rose, clutching my collection of items, and faced Brigette. “Promise me?”

Her brow crinkled. Her throat worked. “Are you sure? What if saving him means sacrificing you?”

“I can take care of myself. Jackie Faercourt will do everything in his power to make sure nothing happens to me, and you and I have already planned for Jackie. I need someone to look out for Gideon the same way.”

Brigette shrugged. “I make no promises.”

Somehow, I suspected she would say that. “Midnight will be here before we know it. I’m going to get dressed and go down to the garage to see if Gideon needs anything.”

“I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

In my room, I changed into black pants that fit like a second skin and stretched, allowing free range of movement. I tugged on a long black blouse and wrapped a length of dark rope around my waist several times, wearing it like a belt. After letting my hair loose, I ran a brush through it, smoothing snarled and knotted strands, and braided it back into a tight queue. Finally, I slipped on my Thunder Cloak, a plain black mask, and a pair of black gloves.

Our hotel suite was quiet and empty when I slipped out of my bedroom. I gathered the basilica’s blueprints, rolled them into a tube, and stuffed them into an interior pocket. No one remarked on my strange attire as I hurried down the hotel’s main stairway. The Season of Magic meant the rules of fashion and propriety no longer applied after sundown. Again, I savored the freedom of my momentary anonymity. If I successfully returned to Inselgrau and reclaimed my throne, my days of going anywhere unrecognized would swiftly come to an end.

But maybe I’d find an excuse to throw an occasional masquerade party of my own.

I found Gideon in the garage, applying a final coat of paint to the boat’s hull. Once bright white, it was now as dark and dull as a cloudy night.

“I need to paint the canopy too.” He gave me a quick glance, lips twitching with an inscrutable expression. “But I haven’t gotten to it yet.”

I removed my mask and pointed at the paintbrush in his hand. “You get changed. I’ll finish the boat.”

He disappeared into a shadowy corner while I smeared black paint over the canopy’s gaudy blue and white stripes. Harsh and acrid, the paint’s fumes tingled in my nose, and my eyes watered. “I’m not sure I want to know what’s in this stuff. Smells like it could peel your skin off.”

“Take my advice and don’t get any on you. It stains, and I have a feeling it won’t come out with regular soap.” He emerged from the shadows dressed in attire similar to mine. Snug black pants hugged his long legs, and a knitted shirt clung to his chest and shoulders.