Page 36 of Our Radiant Embers

“A couple of months,” Adam said. “Say, late May? That’d be my best guess.”

“A couple of months?” I’d expected early next year.

“This is Alaric’s pet project, Liam. Preparations have been running for a year, and he’s got friends in high places. It’ll be a couple of months. Three, at the most.”

Three months. Jesus, could I do it? Could we do it—Jack and Laurie, my parents, and me? Most of our prototypes were in the early stage, and as the only one able to see the way magic flowed, the ultimate responsibility lay with me.

Oh God. Maybe I hadn’t thought this all the way through.

“Something wrong?” Adam asked, and I realised I might have been staring at my pint for a few seconds too long. I was about to reply when his phone started buzzing. He pulled it out, then turned it for me to see ‘Alaric Hartley’ flashing on the display.

All right.

Fuck.

“Alaric!” Adam’s voice was smooth and easy as he picked up. He was also holding on to the drink rail like it might keep him from tumbling off his bar chair. “Thanks for calling. How do you think it went?”

I couldn’t hear what Hartley said. I did see the change in Adam’s face, though—relief washing across his features, a smile as bright as an explosion. His gaze found mine and held it.

‘We got it?’ I mouthed.

He gave the tiniest of nods even as he told Hartley…something. Thanked him, maybe. I couldn’t focus past the roaring white tide of noise in my ears. Oh, wow. God. This was—it was happening, really and truly happening, holy shit. A dizzying rush of blood to the head.

“Breathe, Liam,” someone said.

I did. Focused on Adam, and took another breath. “I’m okay.”

We stared at each other, my heart thudding in my throat. This was life-changing. All eyes on us, a chance to make this city a slightly better place.

“I’m okay,” I repeated, and I wasn’t sure if it was me reaching out first or if it was Adam, bright spots still swirling through my brain as I wrapped my arms around him. We’d done it, oh God. I inhaled, the smell of his aftershave dancing through my veins, the pub fading away.

We’d done it.

I let go, not sure what to do with my hands, not sure what to do with myself. I needed to tell my family. I needed to tell George. Instead, I sat on my bar chair, trying to remember words while continents emerged and vanished in my mind. Adam’s smile was the brightest thing I saw.

“You with me?” he asked quietly, an echo of earlier.

“If by with you, you mean some bizarre parallel universe where the UK government just greenlighted our proposal?” I drew a shaky breath. “Then, yeah—I’m with you.”

Adam’s smile changed to something more private. “Good.”

I smiled back while around us, people kept laughing, talking, drinking. My pulse fluttered in my fingertips like moth’s wings.

8

INTERMISSION

London Morning—Your #1 Newsletter for Everything London and Beyond!

DRIVING THE DAY—GREEN URBANISATION OR SMOKE AND MIRRORS? It’s the city planner’s Holy Grail: a blend of innovative technologies and sustainable practices, built at breakneck speed. Such is the pie-in-the-sky promise of the Green Horizon Initiative—nothing less than a blueprint for transforming how we live. And it will happen right here, in London.

GOOD MORNING. We stay up late so you don’t have to. Over a few pints at the infamous Red Lion, favourite haunt of policy wonks and tourists alike, we learned that the Initiative will be spearheaded by two entrepreneur families. The Harringtons are one of them, known for their iron-fist efficiency. The other, though? Talk about a new kid on the block.

“The Harringtons are no strangers to large-scale construction, but the Morgans? They’re the wild card,” we hear from a government source who hints at groundbreaking yet undisclosed technologies. “It’s a game-changer.”

THE TL;DR. The Initiative focuses on three pilot areas: a cluster of shops and restaurants in Covent Garden, a residential block in Southwark, and a park in Finsbury. Over a delicious shepherd’s pie, we gathered the key elements from an insider.

One, so much greenery you’ll think you’re in the Royal Botanic Gardens; two, innovative building methods to speed up construction; three, zero waste; and four, renewable energy sources—from wind to sun to rubbish, of all things. Self-sustaining, we ask? No, better. Giving energy back to the community.

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