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“I’ you, I don’t think it was the Shax I think the Shax was pursuing her—hunting her down for so, or someone, else ”

“Shaxes have a keen sense of scent,” Will allowed “I’ve heard of warlocks using the And it did see with an odd sort of purpose ” He looked past Jem, at the pitiful smallness of the crumpled shape in the alley “You didn’t find the weapon, did you?”

“Here ” Je from inside his jacket—a knife, wrapped in white cloth “It’s a sort of er Look how thin the blade is ”

Will took it The blade was indeed thin, ending in a handle made of polished bone The blade and hilt both were stained with dried blood With a frown he wiped the flat of the knife across the rough fabric of his sleeve, scraping it clean until a symbol, burned into the blade, beca the other’s tail, for a perfect circle

“Ouroboros,” Je in close to stare at the knife “A double one Nohat do you think that means?”

“The end of the world,” said Will, still looking at the dagger, a s ”

Jey, Willianifies?”

The wind off the river was ruffling Will’s hair; he brushed it out of his eyes with an i the knife “It’s an alchemical symbol, not a warlock or Doorlder one That usuallyinwealth and fame ”

“The sort who usually end up a pile of bloody rags inside sorim

“The sort who like to lurk about the Doorld parts of our fair city ” After wrapping the handkerchief around the blade carefully, Will slipped it into his jacket pocket “D’you think Charlotte will let ation?”

“Do you think you can be trusted in Doorld? The gaical vice, the women of loose morals …”

Will sht have smiled, moments before he fell fro, do you t

hink?”

Jehed “Do what you like, William You always do ”

Southampton, May

Tessa could not reel It had belonged to herit when she died After that it had sat in her mother’s jewelry box, until her brother, Nathaniel, took it out one day to see if it was still in working order

The angel was no bigger than Tessa’s pinky finger, a tiny statuette er than a cricket’s It had a delicate metal face with shut crescent eyelids, and hands crossed over a sword in front A thin chain that looped beneath the wings allowed the angel to be worn around the neck like a locket

Tessa knew the angel was made out of clockwork because if she lifted it to her ear she could hear the sound of its machinery, like the sound of a watch Nate had exclai after so many years, and he had looked in vain for a knob or a screw, or soht be wound But there had been nothing to find With a shrug he’d given the angel to Tessa Froht the angel lay against her chest as she slept, its constant ticktock, ticktock like the beating of a second heart

She held it now, clutched between her fingers, as the Main nosed its way between other massive steamships to find a spot at the Southampton dock Nate had insisted that she come to Southampton instead of Liverpool, where most transatlantic steamers arrived He had claimed it was because Southampton was a much pleasanter place to arrive at, so Tessa couldn’t help being a little disappointed by this, her first sight of England It was drearily gray Rain drummed down onto the spires of a distant church, while black smoke rose from the chimneys of ships and stained the already dull-colored sky A crowd of people in dark clothes, holding umbrellas, stood on the docks Tessa strained to see if her brother was a them, but the mist and spray from the ship were too thick for her to reat detail

Tessa shivered The wind off the sea was chilly All of Nate’s letters had clai every day Well, Tessa thought, hopefully the weather there was better than it was here, because she had no war ed to Aunt Harriet, and a pair of thin gloves She had sold most of her clothes to pay for her aunt’s funeral, secure in the knowledge that her brother would buy her more when she arrived in London to live with him

A shout went up The Main, its shining black-painted hull glea their way through the heaving gray water, ready to carry baggage and passengers to the shore Passengers streamed off the ship, clearly desperate to feel land under their feet So different from their departure from New York The sky had been blue then, and a brass band had been playing Though, with no one there to wish her good-bye, it had not been a merry occasion

Hunching her shoulders, Tessa joined the dise her unprotected head and neck like pinpricks from icy little needles, and her hands, inside their insubstantial gloves, were cla the quay, she looked around eagerly, searching for a sight of Nate It had been nearly teeks since she’d spoken to a soul, having kept almost entirely to herself on board the Main It would be wonderful to have her brother to talk to again