The carpet lifted Samheed several feet off the ground and slowly transported him, then dumped him off rather unceremoniously at the other end of the room. “Oof,” he said. He got up and dusted off his pants. “We’re still fine-tuning it,” he said, “and we don’t have a permanent version figured out yet, but it does the job we need it to do for now, which is getting us to the ship.”
“Our longest flight lasted about ten minutes before the carpet collapsed and disappeared,” Lani said. “Just make sure you tell it where you want it to go as soon as you are settled on it. You’re going to need every minute of spell time.”
Florence cleared her throat from the doorway. “Alex,” she said, looking down at her large body, “I’m not sure . . . I mean, how exactly . . . ?”
Alex nodded. “I know. It’s a risk because we don’t know how many carpets it will take to lift you, and we don’t have enough components to do a test run. We’ll have to figure it out on the spot in the morning.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” Ms. Octavia asked, alarmed. “We can’t leave without Florence.”
“We won’t,” Alex said. “There has to be another way. Florence, you’d be able to walk out to a point beyond the storm, right?”
“Sure,” Florence replied, “but I don’t think Spike can lift me all the way to the surface. Don’t worry, though, Octavia—it’s not ideal, but I can walk all the way to Artimé if I have to. It just might take a month.”
“All right,” Ms. Octavia said, “but don’t forget about that eel, and no one knows what other creatures live underwater. If something happens to you, how will we find out? I don’t like that plan at all.”
“We’ll get her to the ship,” Alex promised. But Ms. Octavia’s reminder made him nervous.
Sky couldn’t hide her concern. “Alex, I don’t think Crow and I can command a magic carpet. We’re not good with that stuff. Not good enough, anyway, to try and control something like this, with all the rain and wind and . . . well, I’m worried about it. I don’t think it’s safe for us.”
Alex smiled. “I’m sorry you’re worried—I was getting to that. Samheed and I tested a carpet with both of us sitting on it, and it carried us fine. It just goes a little slower. So you and Crow can each ride along with someone else if you feel more comfortable.”
Sky let out a nervous breath. “Yes, please.”
“You can ride with me if you want,” Alex said. His eyes held hers, and he willed her not to look away.
Everyone around them had witnessed the tension between them throughout the entire journey, whether they wanted to or not, and now they sat silent, watching.
Sky pressed her lips together and swallowed hard. “All right. That sounds fine,” she said.
“Good,” said Alex softly. He smiled again and straightened up, addressing the group once more. “And, Crow, you can go with Samheed or Lani.”
Crow eyed them both. “Lani, please,” he said.
Samheed pretended to be offended. “What, you don’t trust me?”
“Not as much as I trust her,” he said, pointing to Lani.
“Good choice,” Lani said, poking Samheed with her elbow.
“I guess Fox and Kitten are stuck with me,” Samheed said.
Fox gave Samheed a wary look, but Kitten seemed pleased.
Alex wrapped up the meeting with a few more details about the next day’s plan, then dismissed everyone to tidy up the shelter and prepare for the hasty departure in the morning.
Late that night, when Alex had finished inspecting the shelter to make sure they were leaving Ishibashi’s home in perfect shape, he found Sky hunched over the loom.
He leaned over next to her. “What are you doing?” he whispered.
She looked up, weary. “Oh, hi. I thought I’d try and make a few more magic carpet components in case we need them for Florence. Can you instill them with magic or are you too tired?”
Alex flopped down next to her, exhausted. “I’m not too tired.”
He picked up a component and held it, closed his eyes, and pictured the job the carpet was supposed to do. Fly, he thought, over and over. Fly, fly, fly.
Once the magic took hold, Alex placed the component inside his vest pocket and picked up another one. Fly, fly, fly.
He did this for each of the components. Finally there was only one left.
Fly, fly, fly, he thought. To the sky. Sky. Sky.
Sky.
When he opened his eyes and placed the last instilled component inside his pocket, he saw that Sky was watching him, a curious look on her face.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“What do you think about when you close your eyes?” she asked.
Alex looked at her, her silky orange eyes catching light from the fire, her hair falling against her cheek, her lips soft and full.
“You really want to know?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“I think about you,” he said.
Aaron Ventures Out
Aaron watched over the oil press workers more intensely than he’d watched over anything in his entire life.
“Crank it harder,” he instructed, hovering over the guards. “For the best results, you have to twist your wrist just so as you do it.”
The guards complied with all of the high priest’s whims, even when they changed from hour to hour, or minute to minute. It was clear the high priest was quite possessive of his masterpiece—so possessive that he hardly ever left the conference room where the machine now sat. He even slept in snatches in the corner, surrounded by empty barrels.