as he stalked toward the edge of the room. I hurried to keep up with him.
“And what, pray tell, is this supposed to be, Everett?” he asked an ebony-skinned man in a red tailcoat. “An airship that hits people in the head is no airship at all.”
“I can’t help it if you’re a bloody giant, Col,” Everett said. Then he sighed deeply. “It’s the steam engine. Even in miniature, it’s too heavy to get enough lift. I’ve already got a ship, but I don’t have a power supply. Magic may be the only reasonable way to power an airship.”
“What about electricity?” Colin asked. “Tom’s created a storage battery, and it’s not too heavy.”
“Would it hold enough power to get us anywhere?”
“Talk to Tom. Maybe there’s something he can do. But in the meantime, watch where you fly these things. That’s gonna bruise, and I can’t afford to mar my good looks.” With that, he twirled me back onto the dance floor.
The next dance was just as energetic, and before it was over, I was gasping for breath. Colin guided me over to a refreshment table and handed me a cup of punch. This drink was cold, with chips of ice in it, and I downed the whole cup in a couple of swallows while Colin spoke to some of the men. Only when it was gone did I gasp as the harsh bite of the alcohol hit me. This was more than I was accustomed to, but as long as I didn’t return home inebriated, there was no one to tell me I wasn’t allowed to consume alcohol.
I was just about to suggest we return to the floor when I heard someone call my name and turned to see Alec approaching. He had his coat off and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A pair of goggles with an array of fold-down magnifying lenses was shoved back on his forehead. There was a smear of soot across one cheekbone. Even disheveled as he was, I found him more appealing than in all the daydreams I’d had after our earlier meeting. Although I’d planned to act casual when seeing him, the punch had gone to my head, and I rushed toward him, smiling broadly. “I was wondering where you were,” I said, louder than I intended.
“I’ve been working on the lights,” he said, gesturing to the glowing globes above. “They’re powered by a steam dynamo. It’s been fussy tonight. She must feel like she’s missing the party while she’s stuck down in the basement.”
I tilted my head back to look at the lights and would have toppled over if Alec hadn’t caught me. I knew I should have stepped away as soon as he steadied me, but I didn’t really want to, so I stayed securely in the crook of his arm. “They’re much better than gaslight.”
“We think so. Someday they could replace gaslight for those who can’t get magical lights. That is, if the magisters will allow a power other than magic.” He looked at me with a smile that made me glad he was holding me upright. “But you came here for a party, not a political lecture. Would you care to dance?”
“I’d love to,” I said. I’d caught my breath from my earlier exertions, but I was still greatly relieved when the band played a stately waltz. I’d waltzed with men before, but this was different. He held me closer than had been proper at New Haven tea dances, but the real difference was my memories of him whisking me out of the way of certain death and how my heart had raced then while I was in his arms. It raced again now.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
I glanced up to see him looking down at me. Did my thoughts of him show on my face? I stiffened in his arms, suddenly self-conscious. “Yes, I’m having a very good time.”
“I’m glad you came,” he said with a smile. “I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t.”
His attention flustered me. I had all sorts of clever things planned to say, but my tongue had become so thick and heavy that I couldn’t move it. Just when I opened my mouth to say something witty and flirtatious, the music abruptly stopped and the room went silent. Every head in the room turned, and I followed their gaze. A woman dressed all in black, with a veil hanging in front of her face nearly to her waist, stood at the