The world was washed in white light that seared a thousand starbursts of color into the back of Hettie’s brain. Almost as quickly, it receded, like a riptide that dragged at her being. Whatever it was, though, couldn’t seem to set its hooks in her, and the power withdrew, sloughing away like wet dough peeling off an improperly floured baking sheet.
Hettie blinked hard and gasped.
All her friends lay on the ground, writhing. Ling, Sophie, Starling, Jay, the other sorcerers, even the Pinkerton woman. Only Berkeley and Fielding remained standing.
Hettie pushed up, breathing heavily. “What did you do?”
“I’ve taken their powers. Fielding’s ether engine is a marvelous creation. Not entirely practical in our realm, since it steals the power from everyone and everything in a given area, but it
