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‘Did you feed?’

There was a dead silence. I leaned against the wall beside his door.

‘I found a way into the Forum,’ I said. ‘Jaxon is here.’

That got him to open the door. His eyes were dimmer than ever.

‘Tell me,’ he said, his voice soft.

I obliged. He listened without interrupting.

‘I must inform Terebell,’ he said, once I had described the whole earth-shattering afternoon. ‘She will not be pleased to hear that Jaxon is alive.’

‘I’m not exactly over the moon about it myself,’ I said, ‘but you and I did choose not to kill him, so this headache is our fault. You might want to omit that particular detail.’

‘Hm. I will send a psychopomp,’

‘You can do that while you’re on alysoplasm?’

‘With some patience. I still carry the æther in my veins,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, you should take the measure of this Council of Kassandra, to determine whether they are potential allies.’

‘I’m not an especially good judge of character,’ I said, ‘but you did say the Ranthen wanted an advisory presence in the human world. If we can persuade the CouncilandDomino to work alongside you, this could well be how we manage after Scion.’ I sighed. ‘I can’t get my head around the idea of voyants having any political sway, even out here. You should have seen the Forum. It’s like a palace.’

‘We should have built such a palace ourselves. Had the Sargas not won the war, we could have treated voyants as our friends and representatives, rather than condemn you. But since we needed you to survive, Nashira would not take any chances. She was bent on subjugation.’

‘And here we are.’ I folded my arms. ‘I must sound like a broken record, but I can’t help but notice that you still haven’t fed. We’re pushing a week. What exactly are you trying to prove?’

His eyes darkened even further.

‘Fine. Ducos will find you somewhere else soon,’ I said curtly. ‘I can’t stop you starving yourself, but at least I won’t have to watch.’

I left without a backward glance, feeling his gaze on me all the way.

My heart pounded as I walked down the steps to the courtyard. No matter what I did, I was getting this all wrong. Arcturus was sinking, and I didn’t know how to save him, because I wasn’t gentle or patient, like he was.

In the courtyard, I sat by the fountain and sent a message to Ducos:Any updates on the place for Warden?

After a couple of minutes, my phone vibrated.I will collect him on Thursday evening and take him to our sanctuary in Orvieto, not far from Rome. He can stay there for as long as necessary.

‘Paige?’

Verca touched my shoulder, distracting me. She took one look at my face and sighed. ‘It’s been a long day,’ she said. ‘Do you want to get dinner?’

‘Please,’ I said.

‘All right. My niece recommended a place near the Colosseo,’ she said. ‘We’ll get a cab.’

Arcturus was already back in his room. I knew my irritation stemmed from worry, but for once in his life, I wished he would be straightforward with me. The guesswork was driving me spare.

The restaurant was on a rooftop. Verca and I sat on upholstered red seats, overlooking a massive ruin near the Forum.

‘The Colosseum,’ Verca said, passing me the drinks menu. ‘It was an amphitheatre in Ancient Rome, used for public entertainment. Most famously, it hosted fights to the death between enslaved warriors called gladiators. It was a cruel time. Then again, so is ours.’

‘So I’ve learned,’ I said.

Verca ordered our supper and cocktails in Italian. As soon as the waitron had gone, she released her breath.

‘A sibyl,’ she murmured. ‘Apparently, I will be able to see my visions in more detail if I am with the others when they come. That’s why Antoinette has been trying to gather us all in one place.’‘How did she use to make such good predictions on her show?’ I asked. ‘Did she know other sibyls even then?’ ‘I will have to ask her.’ She swirled her drink. ‘I’m not a fighter, like you or Maria. Perhaps this is the way I join the battle against Scion. Should I uproot my life and move to Rome?’