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from Ananias, their fingertips barely touching.
    The metal lock was bending, but the flame was weakening. I wanted to help, but I’d only distract them. I was sure that if their flame went out for even a moment, it might never come back.
    My father had his back to them. I didn’t know whether he was asleep or if he was just protecting himself from the heat. But as the flame slipped closer to being extinguished, he stirred. He rolled over and forced a couple fingers from each hand through the metal mesh.
    It took Ananias and Eleanor a moment to touch him—he looked as awful now as he had the day before—but when they did, he curled his fingers tightly around theirs. He gritted his teeth as the three of them joined. The flame grew suddenly larger and fiercer.
    It was clearly Father’s element at work. He and I shared the same power. But if it was surging into Ananias and Eleanor, why did they look
less
uncomfortable now than before? At the briefest touch, Alice and Rose had pulled away from me. But no one was pulling away from Father now.
    The metal lock, already red hot and bending slightly, seemed to liquefy. Ananias eyed it closely, ready to snap it at the precise moment. Eleanor leaned farther back again, but now it was the heat that made her recoil.
    Father’s lips were pulled back, teeth chattering from the exertion. His whole body began to shake, slowly at first and then faster, so that he convulsed uncontrollably.
    Ananias struck the lock with the side of his hand. The flame disappeared but the lock didn’t break completely. So he struck it again, even harder, screaming from the intensity of it all.
    The lock cracked and dropped to the floor, where it sizzled against the wooden planks. Eleanor fell back against the wall to avoid getting burned. Ananias collapsed, gasping for breath. And my father stopped shaking.
    I slid inside the room and yanked the cage top upward. I wrapped an arm around my father and tried to drag him over the side of the cage, but he was too heavy.
    â€œTake his legs.” Alice stood beside me, legs spread wide to avoid treading on her sister. “I’ll help you.”
    His tunic and pants were stiff from dried urine. I gagged on the stench.
    â€œNow,” she said.
    We heaved him onto the edge of the cage, but couldn’t stop him from slipping over and onto the floor. He didn’t make a sound, not even when we pulled him into the corridor by his armpits.
    â€œHe must be unconscious,” said Alice.
    I placed my fingers against his neck and checked for a pulse. His heartbeat was slow. Faint too, and growing weaker every moment.
    â€œWhat’s happening, Thom?”
    Ananias and Eleanor still hadn’t moved. Using their elements had left them completely exhausted. “He combined his element with them,” I said. “But I don’t think he had the energy—”
    I broke off as my father’s pulse stopped. I kept my fingers in place, waiting for the heartbeat to return. But it didn’t.
    The world seemed to close in around me. Father’s face and body were relaxed, as if he was welcoming death. I couldn’t let that happen.
    The thin thread of an element began to pass between us then. My hands were shaking, but I was conscious of channeling the flow, pouring every fiber of my being into him and emptying my mind of every thought but one: Make him live.
    There were voices around me, but they couldn’t break through the bubble I’d created. One after another my senses shut down as I focused more, pushed harder. Whatever was left of my element was his now.
    The voices around me were shouting. I recognized the tone but not the words. It wasn’t just one voice either, but several. I drew strength from that too.
    My eyes were open but I was blind. I didn’t even bother to breathe anymore.
    I was at peace.
    And then I wasn’t.
    Â»Â«
    â€œYou’re lucky to be alive.”
    I tried to raise my