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‘Do you have evidence of that claim, Underqueen?’

‘Not here, and he knows it, but it’s true. Does he have evidence against me?’

‘Yes, Paige. We have your phone.’

I almost reached for my pocket. My phone, containing exchanges between me and Arcturus. They had confiscated it.

Fuck.

‘You’ve been advising your Rephaite allies to feed on voyants,’ Carter said, heavy disapproval in her voice, while I groped for a reasonable explanation. ‘I truly didn’t believe it until I saw those messages for myself. Don’t tell us you weren’t communicating with one of them.’

I had always known Jaxon was clever, but this had to be his greatest work yet. A stroke of cold-blooded genius. He had taken every last thing I had done to hurt Scion and twisted it.

‘The Ranthen do no lasting harm to voyants’ auras,’ I said. A few outraged protests went up. ‘They have funded and protected us, and I will not apologise for my alliance with them.’

‘Paige, we need you,’ Sala said, while Carter shook her head. ‘We want you as an ally of the Council of Kassandra.’

‘But youmustsever this relationship with the Ranthen,’ Carter said, her eyes flashing. ‘Paige, you must have survived Dublin by the skin of your teeth, and here you are, twenty years old, doing your best to help the founders of Scion. Do you not see how lost you are?’

‘You dare accuse Paige Mahoney of siding with the enemy,’ Maria said. ‘Who among you has lived in Scion?’

‘I have,’ Carter shot back. ‘And I’ve returned there many times, at significant risk to my own life.’

‘All right. Anyone else?’

Nobody answered. Mistry pressed his lips together, tapping his pen against his notes.

‘Paige has been forced to make some very difficult and painful decisions in the last few months,’ Maria went on, her cheeks a little flushed. ‘She is the reason that Senshield isn’t already installed across Scion, because she gave herselftothe enemy to destroy it. Nick and I will not allow you to sit in judgement – you, who have never assisted the oppressed voyants of Scion, but looked down your noses at us from afar.’ Nick nodded. ‘We all agreed to her alliance with the Ranthen, which won us coin and cover to weather martial law.’

A lump was coming up in my throat.

‘If you accuse Paige Mahoney,’ Maria said, ‘you accuse us all.’ She turned to Sala. ‘Paige has offered to defend you from Fitzours, risking her own neck. If this is how you repay that gesture, we can leave you to rot. We’ll return to Scion, where we belong.’

Once again, the chamber was silent.

‘I am grateful that the Underqueen has offered to help,’ Sala eventually said. ‘Fortunately, we do have a quick and simple way for you to prove yourself, Paige.’

‘Bring it on,’ I said.

Sala nodded to a pair of guards, and they heaved the nearest doors open. When I saw the group of Italian soldiers, and what they were hauling behind them, I stiffened.

Two Rephs, bound with chains of iron, threaded with poppy anemones.

‘We understand these are the Rephaim you’ve worked closely alongside,’ Carter said, while the Rephs were shoved unceremoniously to the floor. ‘Which is your paramour, Paige?’

‘The taller one.’ Jaxon interlocked his fingers beneath his chin. ‘Good evening, Arcturus.’

Arcturus looked at him with burning eyes. He must have followed the cord as soon as I was sedated, only to run into a trap that Jaxon had prepared. Always two steps ahead of the game.

‘President Sala, these two Ranthen are about the most important you could have chosen to insult,’ I said, trying not to sound as shaken as I felt. ‘I urge you to release them now.’

‘If you want us to support your rule,’ Sala said, ‘then we must know where your loyalties lie, Underqueen. Choose one of these Rephaim to provide ectoplasm for my soldiers, and I will be assured of your allegiance to your own kind. You can defend me, as agreed.’

‘You will pay for this,’ Terebell said, addressing the chamber. ‘I am the sovereign-elect of the Ranthen.’

‘You are a parasite,’ one of the voyants sneered. ‘What are you without us?’

Terebell tensed. When she saw Jaxon, her eyes flared. ‘Why are you here, arch-traitor?’