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I believed him. He knew Jaxon better than anyone.

The chairs had plaques in front of them, which told us where to sit. Opposite me was a slender woman whose plaque identified her as Kafayat Ekundayo, the barrister mentioned in the dossier. She wore an emerald head tie and tapped her matching nails on the table. Mistry gave me a polite nod, which I returned.

When everyone had arrived, President Sala stood. The chamber fell silent.

‘Honoured guests and members of the Council of Kassandra,’ Sala said. ‘A few weeks ago, Italy became the target of a covert Scion military assault called Operation Ventriloquist. A dreamwalker named Cadoc Fitzours infiltrated the Quirinale and forced myself and the Prime Minister to surrender two Italian islands tothe Republic of Scion. With one of our colleagues’ lives at risk, we agreed that Italy would join the empire. This was the secret Treaty of Orcus.’

Every face was grim. Her expression flickered, but she maintained her composure.

‘Scion has this treaty. There will be consequences for breaking it.’ Sala lifted her chin. ‘But I have called you all here to inform you that Italy will not give any ground to Operation Ventriloquist. From this point on, this country is at war with the Republic of Scion.’

A few worried murmurs followed. I released my breath.

‘I understand your fear. We know how Scion treats our kind, and I have kicked the hornets’ nest,’ Sala said. ‘But there will be no more appeasement. Scion does not take kindly to resistance, as some of you know from experience. If you wish to flee, I will do all I can to help.’

‘As an Italian myself,’ Verca said, ‘I would prefer to know if you have a plan, President Sala.’

‘I do.’

It didn’t do much to ease the tension, but everyone was listening. This was not the Unnatural Assembly.

‘Yesterday morning, the Prime Minister announced that the populations of Capri and Ischia would be allowed to return to their homes, breaking the conditions of the treaty,’ she said. ‘This news soon reached Scion. Fitzours contacted me and ordered me to meet him at the Quirinale in two days’ time. What he does not know is that I have a shield. A dreamwalker who arrived in Italy just a few weeks ago, and is willing to help us fight.’ She pointed me out, causing everyone to look. ‘This is the Underqueen of the Scion Citadel of London.’

Ekundayo raised her eyebrows. ‘You are Paige Mahoney?’

I nodded.

‘My plan is as follows,’ Sala said. ‘The dreamwalker can possess anyone within a mile of his body. That is the radius we must establish around the Quirinale. We’ll set up a perimeter to ensure he can’t escape this zone. When he inhabits the host, Paige will dislodge him, driving him back to his own body, which we can then destroy,stripping Scion of its weapon. Whether or not Scion will retaliate, and how swiftly, we do not yet know. They may bluff; they may not. This could mean war. Either way, we must make a stand.’

‘You want our support, yet gave none to Portugal,’ a white-haired voyant said. ‘President Gonçalves was amaurotic, but there are many voyants in my country. Where was Italy when we called?’

‘I regret that we could not help Portugal,’ Sala said, ‘but my priority has been to keep Italy strong and stable, to ensure it can support this ambitious endeavour, financially and otherwise.’

‘Spoken like a true politician.’

‘I will not apologise for that, Osvaldo. This war will be fought on many fronts, potentially over many years. We need politicians, just as we need fighters and intelligence agents,’ Sala said. ‘Scion cannot be allowed to succeed in taking Italy, or the Rephaim will be virtually unopposed in Europe. They are the most urgent threat to our kind, as we have all agreed.’

That was not what I had expected her to say. A whole table of people who knew about the Rephs.

Cordier had been right. The secretwasbursting its bounds.

‘If Scion does strike, we have allies in the syndicates of anchorised Europe,’ Sala said. ‘There are other avenues of support.’

‘Indeed,’ Jaxon said, silken. ‘Perhaps you’d like to tell everyone about your Rephaite allies, Underqueen.’

His words spread like frost over the table. There was an appalled silence, during which everyone stared at me.

‘You are workingwiththese creatures?’ someone asked. ‘You, the Underqueen of London?’

‘There are two factions,’ I said. ‘The Sargas family founded Scion. I work alongside their enemies, the Ranthen, who lost the Rephaite civil war before they came to Earth. They don’t want to subjugate humans. They’ve been providing the Mime Order with financial backing, and—’

‘You’ve taken their money, made yourself dependent on them?’

‘Our alliance with the Ranthen has been useful,’ Nick said. ‘When London was placed under martial law, we wouldn’t have survived without—’

‘They feed on our auras,’ Carter cut in, her nostrils flaring. ‘What help can they possibly give us?’

Nick gave her a cautious look. I could tell he was trying to fathom her out.