Page 99

‘Githmark was the first victim of Operation Ventriloquist. Once Fitzours has destroyed one politician, he threatens others with the same fate. He bypasses their security and demonstrates his abilities in private. With the knowledge that their bodies are no longer their own, they are vulnerable to coercion. In this way, Fitzours can break a government from within. He can also cause the politicians to ingest poison, or to otherwise injure themselves, if they do not comply.’

‘Of course,’ Maria breathed. ‘If Scion invades a country, there’s a risk that others will move to defend it. The airstrikes taught the anchor that. This way, the country seems to convert of its own accord. But he’s the one pulling the strings.’

I had never been so ambitious with my gift. In three months, Cade had conquered Norway.

‘He must have threatened Sala and Rinaldi,’ I said. ‘That’s why they handed the islands over.’

‘Yes,’ Arcturus said. ‘Beatrice Sala and Lorenzo Rinaldi were certainly targets of Operation Ventriloquist, and the islands were the first step in the conquest of Italy. They are a token oftroth – a guarantee that Italy will convert, once Scion is ready to initiate the anchorisation and subdue any local resistance. It will be some time before the Second Inquisitorial Division can depart from the Iberian Peninsula.’

‘We need to find President Sala now. More importantly, we need to get rid of Fitzours,’ Nick said. ‘A dreamwalker on their side is far too dangerous.’

I was starting to shiver, even with my jersey.

‘Warden,’ Maria said, ‘after you heard all of this, how did you end up on Capri?’

Arcturus dropped his gaze.

‘After the Ranthen raid on Carcassonne, Nashira deemed that the risk of keeping me outweighed the benefits,’ he said. ‘She decided I could be useful to her once more. I was chained in the coffin and starved. As I lost my grip on the æther, she told me that she meant to lay my body as a trap for my allies. I would be the death of anyone who came for me.’

‘Ah.’ Maria paused. ‘Were you … still conscious when you went into the water?’

‘Yes.’

Nashira was never wasteful. She used her foes to her advantage, even when they were defeated.

‘Lugentes Campi was a trap, chiefly aimed at Terebell, while Orcus IV is another Rephaite haven,’ Arcturus said. ‘I also learned of three more prison cities. There is Tuonela III, which will be in the Swedish town of Visby, and two others, code name Erebus, in Scion East.’

‘Tuonela III is dead in the water. I went to Visby,’ Nick said. ‘Tjäder has stalled the conversion.’

‘That would fit with the current picture of events. Tjäder is still free to act, to some degree, while Ménard no longer is. During our time in Paris, Paige learned that she despises Rephaim.’

Every time he said my name, my skin tingled with fresh awareness of him.

‘Nashira confided in you,’ Terebell said. ‘Did she tell you any other plans, aside from Operation Ventriloquist?’

‘Not in full,’ Arcturus said, ‘but the last intelligence I gained is perhaps the most disquieting. ‘Nashira has turned her attention back to ethereal technology.’

I closed my eyes.

‘Don’t tell us she’s rebuilding Senshield,’ Nick said.

‘Senshield is still incapacitated, to my knowledge. This new technology is called Deathwatch,’ Arcturus said. ‘It will calculate and monitor the number of drifting spirits on Earth.’

‘Why would she create something like that?’

‘She did not tell me its purpose, but it means the Sargas are taking a greater interest in the veils between the planes of being, and in the ethereal threshold. It ought to concern us.’

Terebell narrowed her eyes. Nick and Maria exchanged blank looks, but I knew about the ethereal threshold.

Ideally, we would have an advisory rolein your world, to keep the number of spirits in check and establisha fair balance of power, Arcturus had told me in London.If we cannot do this, we fear therewill be chaos.

What sort of chaos?

If the Netherworld can fall, so can Earth.

16

SIREN