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In London, Arcturus had taught us how to share a memory with many voyants. The three of us – an oracle, an oneiromancer and a dreamwalker – could dovetail our gifts, allowing Nick to share my recollections of the Westminster Archon. The ones only I had ever seen.

Arcturus slowly looked up at me. I returned his gaze, a knot in my throat.

Once, I had made him swear to me that he would never look at those memories. They were to remain untouched in my dreamscape. I hadn’t wanted him to see my torture. I still didn’t.

But I had been as vulnerable with him as it was possible to be. I trusted that he would keep loving me, even if I let him into that dark room. I gave him a tiny nod of permission.

‘Arcturus is an oneiromancer. Paige can share her memories with him,’ Nick said, ‘and I can project them, so you can see.’

The Portuguese voyant spoke up: ‘Is this permissible?’

‘There is no precedent,’ Ekundayo said, leaning forward with clasped hands. ‘Show us, Dr Nygård.’

‘I had no idea we allowed Rephaim to give evidence, Kafayat,’ Jaxon said.

‘The Underqueen has a right to defend herself,’ Mistry said. ‘If this is how she chooses to do it, so be it.’

I dug into my bag again, finding the vial of fortified ectoplasm. If the Council of Kassandra had decided to take me down, I would drag Jaxon Hall with me.

When I drank the ectoplasm, a few shocked murmurs broke out. The æther returned to me in a rush. At once, I sent my perceptionrippling outward, as far as it would go, making sure Cade was nowhere close. So far, I couldn’t sense him. He hadn’t arrived early.

Arcturus held out a hand. I looked down at him.

‘I ask your forgiveness,’ he said, too soft for anyone but me to hear. ‘For what I must do.’

My jaw tightened. I reached back as best I could with the cuffs, and he gently took hold of my good wrist, knowing I would need the comfort.

The Basilica Arcana faded away, replaced by the terrible darkness of the Westminster Archon. Arcturus knew where to look, because he knew exactly when I had been tortured, and for how long.

I closed my eyes, breaking into a cold sweat. He skimmed over the memories of me on the waterboard, tormented by Suhail. My knees buckled as he found the right point in time, when Jaxon had invited me to speak to him. When Jaxon had confessed it all – the grey market, his treachery in Oxford and his belief in Nashira Sargas.

Only the Sargas can regulate our insanity. I heard his voice as if through a thin wall.I fell wildly in love with her mind – her deep understanding of the æther, her hunger to comprehend it entirely.Arcturus tuned the memory, sharpening the words.I betrayed the Ranthen in order to survive …

Nick caught me. Fuelled by the ectoplasm, I dreamwalked into him. My golden and silver cords tied all three of us together, and Nick projected the memories at the Council.

The whole chamber watched as Jaxon appeared before them, dressed in the clothes of a Scion official, detailing his treachery in his own words. Arcturus had no salvia – the memory was blurred, our voices muffled – but I had been angry when this happened. They could all hear it well enough.

She wanted me to be her GrandOverseer, given my talent for spotting powerful voyants.I was allowed to leave Oxford,but only as a Scion employee … I needed wealth to achieve my dream of taking SevenDials … I reported its mime-queen and her mollisher, who were detainedwithin a day …

The whole conversation unfolded. I held on to Nick.

‘Go forward,’ I whispered to Arcturus, part of me still in the past. ‘Go to … half an hour ago.’

Arcturus didn’t typically use his gift like this, but this was his chance to get even with Jaxon, and he knew it. The three of us went rocketing forward in time, stopping in the Tullianum.

I had seeded an idea of you as an inexperienced and unstable leader, a reckless little puppet of the Rephaim, whose disappearance was a blessing in disguise. And by attacking me just now … you have made them wonder if I was right. This recent memory was even clearer, sharp and fresh.I have wanted to rule London since I was a child. If I have to tell this sententious Council a few white lies to keep them out of my way, then so be it …

At last, the vision faded, and the Council of Kassandra blinked.

‘Quite remarkable,’ one of them said. ‘The three of you can twine your gifts, as sibyls do.’

‘He sees the past, not the future.’ Mistry looked thoughtful. ‘An unprecedented gift.’

Nick held me close. I was shivering.

‘I hope you’re satisfied,’ he said bitterly. ‘That’s what Paige has done for London. What has Jaxon done?’

Mistry glanced towards the other two members of the Triumvirate. Carter and Sala both stood in grim silence.