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‘Paige,’ Lucida said, ‘do you sense the Emim?’

‘Not yet,’ I said.

The stimulant was kicking in, making my heart beat faster. Despite the frigid chill, sweat trickled down my breastbone and lined my brow. There were no spirits around, which meant the Buzzers couldn’t be too far away.

The path went on and on. At last, we came to Anacapri. Lucida and Errai went ahead to check for guards, while I stayed on the outskirts with Terebell and Lesath. From the looks of it, the residents had been allowed to evacuate in an orderly fashion, but mounds of fruit had been left to rot in a grocery, causing the whole street to reek. The transceiver in my ear crackled.

‘It’s been over an hour,’ Nick said. ‘Just checking in.’

‘We’ve reached Anacapri. It’s deserted.’ I kept my voice low. ‘Not even the streetlamps are on. Scion must have cut electricity to the whole island. No cameras or alarms so far.’

‘As we thought, then.Federico has moored the boat near a lighthouse, south of where we dropped you off. If there’s any sign of trouble, get to the coast and activate the beacon in your watch. We’ll come as soon as we can.’

‘Okay.’

Most of the shops had been locked, but not emptied. I tried the door of a whitewashed house and glanced inside, finding it like a scene from a play, everything left untouched. The owners had believed they would be coming back in a few weeks. I closed the door behind me and went to Terebell and Lesath. Their eyes were the only light.

‘What do you sense now?’ Terebell asked.

‘Arcturus is closer, but it’s as if he’s … below us. It feels like it did when he was in the Camden Catacombs.’ I touched my earpiece. ‘Vision, can you ask the others if there’s anywhere you could hide a person underground on Capri?’

‘On it,’ Nick said. I heard voices around him. ‘They can only think of the sea caves.’

‘Thanks.’ I tapped out. ‘Let’s head for the Grotta Azzurra. That’s where the patrol ship stopped.’

‘Terebell told me about the golden cord,’ Lesath said. ‘How is it that you have this connection to our Warden?’

‘No idea. It just happened.’ I headed back to the path. ‘What do you know about it?’

‘A union of two spirits,’ Lesath said. He and Terebell shadowed me. ‘There was speculation on the possibility in the Netherworld, though I never knew any of us to have one. I was surprised to learn that a human could have formed such an intimate bond with a Rephaite.’

If any Rephshadshared a golden cord, he would have missed it. Even to sighted eyes, it was invisible.

‘My own kin never spoke of it, in public or in private,’ Lesath said. ‘Most likely, the golden cord was among the sacred mysteries, known only to the Mothallath family. They were our divine leaders, our sovereigns. The secrets of the last light were theirs, and theirs alone.’

And the Sargas had wiped them out. I was starting to think our side might already have won this war if we had been able to consult the Mothallath.

‘Well,’ I said, ‘good thing I do have the cord, or we couldn’t be sure Arcturus was here.’

Lesath made no comment.

We picked up the pace, leaving the town behind, and headed for the trees on the northern outskirts, where the æther felt thick. Arcturus was so close, yet not quite here.

Errai and Lucida stood at the edge of a lemon grove, looking at something. I shone my torch on to a mangled animal, unrecognisable in death, lousy with flies.

‘There is a cold spot here,’ Lucida said. ‘We should move on.’

Terebell looked over the low wall of the grove. I did the same. At once, I saw the perfect circle of ice, giving off a faint glow. I backed away, taking out my pistol.

‘Yes.’ My breath was paler. ‘Terebell, let’s go.’

Come, dreamwalker. Suddenly I felt the same overpowering temptation as I had when I saw my first cold spot, drifting like a siren song from the ice, luring me towards it.Come into the beyond …

The cold spot erupted.

The first Buzzer flew out like a breaching shark. I opened fire at it, just as a second Buzzer came through, screaming with many stolen voices. Terebell opened her coat, and the next thing I knew, she had an iridescent blade in her grasp. Lesath wielded an identical sword.

‘Go,’ Terebell barked at me. ‘Get to the water and call the boat.’