The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War, #2)

by T. Kingfisher

The torturer waved a device under her nose. It was silver and had pointy pinchy bits, several serrated holes, and a spring. Slate hadn’t the faintest idea what it might do and was afraid to find out. “Are you going to talk?” he asked. “Almost certainly,” Slate said, eyeing the device. It was the sort of object confined in kitchen drawers and liberated once a year to make chutney.

Had Slate been in love with Brenner after all? Disgust nearly gagged him. How dare he even think such a thing? As if she wouldn’t have mourned for a friend.