Page 132

‘They caught up to us when Paige stabbed me. Thanks for that, by the way,’ she said to me. ‘I told them I could find her, but … they don’t trust me on my own.’

‘Tell me about Spinner,’ Ducos said.

‘Who?’

‘John Prentice. He’s a member of Command.’

‘Oh, the Aussie.’ Cordier took another breath. ‘Tinman pays him for dirt on your benefactors. He was meant to facilitate a raid on headquarters last night, so they could take Paige and Warden. I was there as a safety net. I saw you leave.’

‘And now here you are.’ Ducos knelt in front of her. ‘I’m taking you to Venice. If you give us concrete information on what Tinman has been doing in Europe, you’ll be given a new identity.’

‘They’d find me.’ Her smile was thin. ‘Alice was my reason for doing this. She’s gone, isn’t she?’

‘Scion executed her. Do you know why?’ Ducos said. ‘Because she saved Paige. If you had sent Paige to any of these factions – none of whom can mean her well – you would have rendered your sister’s death meaningless.’

I stayed quiet while Cordier absorbed this.

‘Without Paige, I can’t secure the intelligence that Alice collected. It was all for nothing,’ she said. ‘And when the cuckoo is found out, it either gets killed or abandoned.’ She looked at her old friend. ‘Tell me once more, Isaure. When does a spy know she needs to retire?’

Ducos answered, after a long pause: ‘The day she becomes ensnared in her own web.’

‘It was a good lesson, even for a cuckoo.’ Cordier smiled again. ‘Lennart back there mentioned a voyant custom, Paige. My name is Margaux Taylan. That’s the name I still hold close.’

She tightened her jaw, and her throat shifted.

‘No.’ Ducos caught her as she slumped over. ‘Margaux—’

Cordier shook her head and choked. Bloody foam escaped her lips.

‘I told you not to keep it in your mouth,’ Ducos ground out. ‘I told you.’

All Domino agents were issued with a silver pill, allowing them to end their lives before Scion could get to them. Ducos had assured me that it caused a quick and painless death, but Cordier kept writhing and twitching for some time. Arcturus stayed beside me as I watched it happen, wondering if I should just relent and shoot her.

Ducos did it first.

Cordier lay on the grass. Even if I couldn’t feel it, I knew her spirit had come untethered from her body. I glanced at Arcturus, who gave me a small nod.

‘Margaux Taylan,’ I said, ‘be gone into the æther. All is settled. All debts are paid. You need not dwell among the living now.’

20

SEVEN HILLS

ROME

10October 2060

We had to wait a while for a new car. Ducos called a second contact to get rid of the damaged ones, along with the bodies of Cordier and her accomplice, whose passport helped us identify him as a Swiss mercenary named Lennart Bohren, a former associate of the Domino Programme.

And just like that, it was over. I never had to worry about them coming back for me.

It seemed a hollow victory.

Rome wrapped us in the glow of its streetlamps. It was strange to not be able to feel the æther, which was the first thing I usually noticed in new places. Ducos stopped on a quiet street.

‘Keep your weapons concealed, as you would in Scion. With President Sala out of contact, we might not be able to assist if you’re arrested.’ She offered me a thin metal card. ‘You can use this to withdraw any money you require, whether for sustenance or bribes.’

I pocketed the card. I’d had a bank account in Scion, but it would have been closed when I was detained.