Page 17

We stopped at a sweetshop before Verca unlocked the door of an apricot building. From its interior courtyard, we followed her up a set of steps, into an apartment with painted ceilings and sash windows. Between the three of us, we got the roses into vases of water.

‘There,’ Verca said, placing one beside a pair of silver candlesticks. ‘Let me change, and we’ll head to Prekousnout. We have a great deal to discuss.’

Prekousnout turned out to be a cellar bar in the castle district of Hradcany, tucked under a winding street that translated as Golden Lane. We went through a red door studded with iron, and I followed Verca down to the bar, where dripping candles and a roaring fire held off the shadows.

About twenty people had gathered in this hideaway, their voices piling like crushed velvet. Most of them were amaurotic, but a crystal ball shone on a mantelpiece. We sat at a table close to the fire, beneath a painting of a woman picking a pomegranate from a tree. At any other time, I would have relished the prospect of plotting revolution in a new theatre of war, far away from Scion, but for all I tried, I couldn’t shake my stubborn thoughts of Arcturus. Nadine had no reason to stick her neck out for a Reph, but she had spoken up for him.

Tell me where you are.

‘I will get us some drinks.’ Verca let her wavy hair fall to her waist. ‘Paige, what would you like?’

I looked at the menu, handwritten in Czech. ‘I don’t, um—’

‘She’ll have a beer,’ Maria said, rescuing me. ‘How about that chocolate one we tried?’ Verca headed to the bar. ‘She will insist at some point, sweet. Prague is famous for its beer.’

‘Fine by me.’ I glanced over my shoulder. ‘You’re sure it’s safe to talk?’

‘As safe as it can ever be. Everyone in this bar is connected to Domino. Though I know that doesn’t make it fail proof.’ She reached for a carafe of water. ‘So what do you think of Verca?’

‘I think she’s lovely, and you’re smitten.’

‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Yes. You could see that blush from Galway.’

‘True.’ Maria sent a dazed look after her. ‘You know, she’s fluent in seven languages. She’s been an interior designer, a professionalsinger, a tour guide, and several other things, each more amazing than the last. Oh, and she had a supporting role in an award-winning Italian film. All this and she’s not even forty. How I caught her interest is a mystery to me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s just sointeresting. You know when you meet people who lead the most fascinating lives, and yours seems to pale in comparison?’

‘Right,’ I said. ‘This from the woman who fought in a war at fifteen, escaped from prison, hitchhiked across Europe, joined the criminal underworld of an empire created by giants from a dying realm, helped kick off a revolution, worked as a spy and can read the future in fire.’

Maria opened her mouth, closed it and tilted her head. ‘I never thought of it that way.’

‘Mimi.’

The voice came from a tiny slip of a woman. Her brown skin was bright from the heat, and a knitted hat slouched over long dark hair. She flashed a grin at Maria, who went to embrace her.

‘Nuray,’ Maria said warmly. ‘Kak ya karash, priyatelko?’

‘Biva.’

They went to the bar, speaking what I assumed was Bulgarian, leaving me with the other arrival. He was heavyset, with a curved nose and thinning black hair, oiled back from a brown face.

‘Radomír Dolecek,’ he said. ‘Do you remember your alias?’

‘Flora Blake,’ I said.

‘Very good.’ Radomír extended a large hand, which I shook. ‘I am pleased to meet you. Nina tells me you woke up in Wroclaw and remember nothing of how you got there.’

‘Yes.’

‘I assumed it was the amnesic procedure, but you do remember Domino.’ He took off his coat. ‘A troubling turn of events.’

‘Story of my life, sadly.’ I looked across the room, to where the other three were chatting as they waited for the drinks. ‘You were the one who stopped it happening to Nina.’

‘Yes. I saw that she could be a good instructor, even if she is too reckless for fieldwork.’