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Ducos nodded. ‘Cordier must have implanted it when she drained your lung in Paris. This abduction was plotted with care. Most likely, she betrayed your safe house to separate you from Warden.’

‘Even before that, she gave him her number. I thought she was just flirting with him.’

‘She was. We have a term for it, in the trade – honey trapping. It was one of her specialities. I imagine she wanted to get rid of him quietly, without any risk of endangering you. When that failed, she had no choice but to expose the safe house while you were gone, so Scion could deal with him.’

I had given her that opportunity. I had left, when Arcturus was tired and weak, to hammer out my differences with Léandre. Cordier must have been keeping watch on the apartment.

‘No doubt she received a reward,’ Ducos said. ‘To fund whatever she was planning.’

Her tone was stiff. She and Cordier must have built a great deal of trust, working together in Scion.

‘So you went to intercept the tracking unit,’ I said. ‘Did you know it was me at that point?’

‘I was nearly certain. By then, Radomír Dolecek had informed Command of your arrival,’ Ducos said. ‘I gave him orders to send you to Italy.’ She stopped at a red light. ‘I decided to await you on the other side of the Alps. All day, I kept an eye on the tracking unit. You took a long diversion from the path. When you stopped moving at dusk, I assumed that you were resting at the cabin, but my instincts told me to head in your direction in case you needed assistance. Around one in the morning, however, your signal vanished.’

Harald had either known or guessed. He had given me that shock to fry the tracking unit.

‘Fortunately,’ Ducos said, ‘I was close enough to your location that I could still find you.’ She tilted the mirror. ‘I take it your companions are Nina Aprilova and Veronika Norlenghi.’

‘Yes.’

‘At least you all survived the night.’ She kept driving. ‘What happened to you after the airstrikes?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Cordier gave me white aster.’

‘As much as you remember, then.’

Fighting the urge to sleep again, I recounted what little I had. By the time I had finished, her grip on the wheel had tightened several times.

‘Grapevine is a Scion espionage network,’ she said. ‘I’ll need you to repeat all of this to Command.’

‘I thought you were Command?’

‘Command is made up of twelve individuals. Two of us are based in Italy. You’ll be speaking to one of the founding members.’ Ducos glanced at me. ‘You look drained. Is it the aster?’

‘I’m worried about Warden.’

‘You’re doubting his betrayal, too.’

‘I need to be sure.’

‘I did my best to locate everyone after the airstrikes, including Warden. There was no trace,’ Ducos said, ‘but Italy is where our intelligence pools. You may not find all the answers you need, but perhaps we can make a start.’

At some point, the mountains shallowed into hills, and then we were driving past olive groves, vineyards and cornfields, kissed by the golds of early autumn. Ducos passed me a pair of sunglasses from the glove compartment, and I leaned out of the window, wind roaring through my hair.

So far, Italy reminded me of the southern France I had once dreamed of visiting, the place in the glossy brochures. My father had brought them home for me sometimes, so I could imagine being elsewhere.

About an hour into the journey, Ducos parked in a garage and got out to make a call, while a man changed the registration plates. She checked on Maria, who was in and out of consciousness, but hadn’t gone into shock. Soon we were on the road again, and I drifted back to sleep.

And then there was bright water on either side of us, sunlight rolling off its waves. I blinked against the glare.

‘Venezia,’ Verca murmured. ‘Of course. Domino is a game, but also a kind of mask, for Carnevale.’

I worked the ache from my neck. ‘We’re in Venice?’

‘Yes,’ Ducos said. ‘Welcome to the Floating City.’

At the end of the bridge, a guard motioned for Ducos to stop the car. She showed him a pass and spoke to him in Italian. After a few nods, he waved us through.