Page 12 of The Dark Mirror (The Bone Season #5)

12

TRIAL BY WATER

As the Ercole approached Capri, night covered the Bay of Naples, speckling the sky with stars. There seemed to be no lights on the island. Once we were within a mile, Federico stopped the boat at my behest, so we floated in absolute darkness, save the single dim lamp on the deck. The Italian government hadn’t banned fishing around Capri. That oversight would serve as our cover.

After a few minutes, no warning shots or announcements had come. Nick glanced at me.

‘Do you sense anything?’

I closed my eyes, letting the ?ther take over. At once, goosebumps stippled my forearms.

‘Nothing human,’ I said. ‘And no other Rephs, as far as I can tell. But the ?ther doesn’t feel right.’

‘Should we keep going?’

Federico saw my nod and got the boat moving.

The Ercole drew closer and closer to Capri. By the time it skirted the towering southern cliffs of the island, the wind had turned cold, and our teeth were chattering.

‘Naples was so warm,’ Nick murmured. His breath came out in white puffs. ‘What is this?’

‘Cold spots.’ Terebell watched the island. ‘More than one.’

Ver?a was shivering in her coat. ‘Cold spots?’

‘This explains why there’s no security. Why the other teams vanished,’ I said softly. ‘Capri is a death trap.’ I checked my supplies. ‘I’m going alone.’

Nick stared at me, his face white in the lamplight. ‘No,’ he said, realising I was serious. ‘Absolutely not. We came to help you, Paige. We knew the risks when we signed up.’

‘You knew there might be amaurotic defences, but if there are cold spots, there might also be Buzzers,’ I told him. ‘I’ll risk my own life for Arcturus, but not yours, Nick. I’ve learned my lessons on that front.’ I turned to Ver?a. ‘Buzzers are creatures from the Netherworld. They come here through cold spots, and they feed on human flesh and spirits. Tell Federico and the others I’ll be searching the island by myself.’

‘Paige—’

‘We Ranthen are coming,’ Terebell said. ‘All of us.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘The Buzzers could turn you.’

Nick frowned, and I bit my tongue. None of the others knew the Buzzers were former Rephs.

‘Arcturus was our ally long before he was yours,’ Terebell said, her gaze steely. ‘I have no plans to send one human to his rescue while I do nothing. In any case, if he is weak or injured – which seems likely – how do you intend to carry him alone, Underqueen?’

She had me there.

‘Paige, without us you’ll have no idea where you’re going,’ Ver?a said, grasping the side of the boat as it rocked. ‘None of you know Capri. It will take too long to search by yourselves.’

‘We are not leaving you after just having found you,’ Nick bit out. ‘Don’t do this, Paige.’

‘Nick, I hate to pull rank, but I’m still Underqueen. I’m ordering you not to come.’ I faced the others. ‘I can’t order the rest of you, but I’m the only one whose gift might be useful on this island. Even fire and bullets won’t work against its guards for long. Let me handle this.’

The hydromancers looked to Ver?a, who spoke to them in Napoletano, presumably skirting around the specific reasons I was stopping them from coming. None of them argued.

After a short exchange, Ver?a switched off the lamp on the deck, and Federico started the boat. When we reached the right place, he brought the Ercole in as close to the island as he could. Sheer untamed rock toothed the coastline, but I could see plenty of natural ways up.

Nick went into his medical bag and handed me a delicate silver earpiece. ‘Domino gave us encrypted transceivers,’ he said. I clipped it on. ‘You take one, too, Terebell.’ She hooked it over her ear with clear reluctance. ‘Stay in touch. Call when you need us to come back.’

‘All right.’ I touched his elbow. ‘I’m sorry. This is a risk I need to take alone.’

‘You always think you need to take the risks alone.’

‘Nick, this is personal.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ he said under his breath. ‘Domino backed this because Warden might have crucial intelligence. Respectfully, I am a Domino agent. I have more right to be on this than—’

‘I’m not doing this for intelligence. I think it’s more than likely Arcturus doesn’t know a damn thing, because he would have been chained up in some dungeon for months. I’m doing this because I owe him, and because I want him back. And I can’t let any of you die for that.’

He breathed out slowly.

‘Please be careful, Paige,’ Ver?a said. ‘Maria will never forgive us if anything happens to you.’

‘I’ll be fine. Any hint of Scion, you get out of here,’ I said. ‘I’ll hide with the Ranthen until you can get back to us.’

We had agreed not to use my torch until we left the coast behind, in case any patrol ships came. I switched on the small light in my watch, then climbed down to the sea. A deep tremor coursed through me as I let go of the ladder. Keeping my chin above the water where I could, I swam the short distance to the rocks, which the Ranthen had already reached. Lucida extended a gloved hand to help me out.

‘Do you still feel Arcturus?’ Terebell asked me. I nodded. ‘Then let us move swiftly.’

‘Hold on. Nick,’ I called, ‘we need the mine detector.’

He threw it. Terebell caught it with one hand, and we both watched the darkness swallow the boat.

‘You know the sickness turns us into Emim,’ she said. ‘A secret we swore to protect.’

‘Arcturus didn’t break his oath. Someone else told me, and I confronted him about it,’ I said. ‘I wish you’d trusted me with the truth, Terebell.’

‘You would not have been reasonable before you knew us well.’

‘What should I do if a Buzzer attacks you?’

‘If any of us are bitten or clawed, the sea will take care of our need for salt, allowing us to take aura again. We will have to use yours, Underqueen.’

‘What am I supposed to do, drag you to the sea?’

‘We have collected seawater.’ She handed me a flask on a strap. ‘You will not breathe a word to your allies about the sickness. Not even your mollishers. It would degrade us in their eyes. If you do not mind your tongue in future, I will cut it out. Is that understood?’

I answered her with a taut nod. She thrust the mine detector at me and strode ahead, her coat dripping.

We filed up the steps to a coastal path. I found the pole star and tried to keep it in front of me. For a while, the five of us made our way inland, undisturbed by anything.

After a time, we reached a wider path, which took us uphill again. I was already tired, but I couldn’t let the Ranthen see even a flicker of weakness. This was a golden opportunity to win their respect, which I still hadn’t quite secured. I was working against centuries of indoctrination. As soon as they weren’t looking, I took the stimulant Ducos had given me, the same one used by spies in Scion. It was the only way I was going to make it through the night.

It was strange to be leading a team of immortals. Other than Arcturus, the Ranthen had remained in the background of the revolution, funding our efforts, but handling their own politics in private. Now four Rephs towered around me like bodyguards. Errai refused to take my shorter legs into account – he marched ahead without a backward glance – but the others kept to my pace, managing not to complain. Even with the stimulant, the aster weighed on me.

Capri had looked beautiful on Omnia, but at night, with all the streetlamps out, I couldn’t see much just the path underfoot, flowers and foliage to our right, trees on the other side. A few weeks ago, this place must have been thronged with tourists enjoying the end of summer. Now it truly had become the Lugentes Campi, the Fields of Mourning quiet and forsaken, named for grief. I stopped to put on my gloves, protecting my hands from the cold, before I held out the mine detector again.

‘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 Rephs had shared 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 ?ther 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.’

‘I can hold them off,’ I protested. ‘I can’t just—’

‘There are too many.’ She shoved me away. ‘Find the coastal path. We will follow.’

More Buzzers were breaking through the veil, constricting my aura. One of them locked its white gaze on me. I turned and broke into a sprint.

My torchlight was frantic, jerking each time my boots struck the ground. A shriek raised the hairs on my nape. Following the illuminated route on my watch, I hunted for the hidden path, risking a glance back to see those ghastly eyes, stark against the gloom. Their glow was a pale mockery of the golden fire that must have burned there.

Who were you?

Arcturus might be in the Netherworld. He could have turned into one of those Buzzers.

It was so dark that I almost missed the opening in the trees. Stopping myself just in time, I cleared the first set of cement steps and kept running. The Buzzer howled in my wake.

Thick greenery sliced at my face. This path must have been neglected for years. I hurdled a tree that had slumped over, then barrelled downhill, barely controlling my descent, my boots slewing on the rough ground. I almost lost my footing as the path turned into steps and back. As I whipped past a rusty construction fence, I glimpsed another cold spot in the foliage, and the gleam of a third, farther away. I had never seen them so close together.

The Buzzer dived at me. Just as I ducked under a branch, the ground vanished, and my stomach dropped. On instinct, I threw up my arms to shield my face.

The first impact crunched the breath from me. The next hit my ribs like a brick wall. I kept my arms wrapped over my head, unable to tell which way was up, waiting for a bone to snap or dislocate. By the time I slammed to a stop, I was bleeding from a gashed knee and elbow, my cheekbone was throbbing, and pain had exploded in my shoulder.

My torch clattered down beside me. Heaving for breath, I grabbed it and angled its beam up to see the Buzzer above me, ensnared by the branches I had missed. They overhung a final set of steps, steeper than any of the others. I was fortunate not to have broken my neck.

I seized my chance to get my bearings. Another wide road, smooth and tarmacked, stretched ahead of me. Fuelled by the stimulant, I sleeved blood off my chin and made a break for it.

Now I was closing on the Grotta Azzurra, the port of call where the patrol ship had been. Except now I was on my own, and if Scion had left guards there, I would be outnumbered.

I had no choice. If I stopped, the pain and shock of the fall would overwhelm me, and I couldn’t let that happen. The golden cord felt stronger here than it had at the cold spot, and it was pulling me down, like an anchor. I hooked the torch on to my vest and kept running

Behind me, the Buzzer tore free. I was caught in the open, with nowhere to hide. As it gave chase again, moving at twice my speed, I displaced my spirit and sent a wake of pressure through the ?ther, making the Buzzer release that awful sound, the screams of the people whose spirits it had consumed. I would only be able to keep this up for a moment longer …

And the path ahead had just run out.

I snapped to a halt, staring in fear. There was no way up or forward. Out of options, I unsheathed my dive knife and turned to face the Buzzer, right as it took a terrific swing at me.

My abrupt stop had thrown off its aim. Its arm collided with my side, hurling me not only off the path, but the edge of the cliff. The knife flew from my grasp, and then there was nothing but icy air in my ears, rushing past me. I fell and fell before I crashed into the sea.

For a moment, I thought the drop had killed me. I thought I might be in the ?ther – drifting, weightless, disembodied.

For a moment, that silence was peaceful.

Then my skin was smarting, and panic hit me with the cold. Here we are again, Underqueen , Suhail Chertan observed . His eyes floated up from the deep. Look how much we have to drink.

I kicked away from him. My head broke the surface, and my breath shot out in thick white smudges.

Drink.

The black sea rolled around me. As I trod water, I tried to focus on the crash of the waves and the taste of salt, to separate this moment from my torture, from the river, from the night I had almost drowned under Paris. Except for my own ragged breaths, I couldn’t hear a thing over the din.

I shook my hair out of my eyes and blinked. My left side was in agony. Reaching for my torch, I shone it upward, revealing the cliffs. I had plummeted a long way, but the Buzzer had thrown me far enough that I had missed the rocks and plunged into deep water.

There had to be a way back up. My body ached, unaccustomed to swimming. As I fought with the sea, splashing back towards land, my torchlight hit the cliff face – and then disappeared. I swashed closer to see a small opening, barely discernible above the waves.

The golden cord was pointing me straight into that darkness.

This had to be the Grotta Azzurra, right where the Scion ship had been spotted. Metal stairs descended from the coastal path, just as Ver?a had described, ending in a flat platform.

Arcturus really was in the cave. The patrol ship had left him exactly where it had stopped.

I couldn’t stand the thought of going into that pitch-black opening. As the waves shunted me towards it, I tried my best to stay calm. I had a tank of oxygen. I had conquered my fear before, to save my own life. I could do it again for Arcturus. He would do it for me.

All I had to do was swim.

Even with the gloves, my fingers were icy and stiff. I removed the mask from my diving vest, fastened it over my face, and switched on the built-in headlamp. Next, I returned my torch to my belt, leaving my hands free, and activated the tracking beacon in my watch.

‘Terebell,’ I shouted, trying to keep a finger on my earpiece, ‘come to the Grotta Azzurra. There are steps. Nick, get Federico to bring the boat, quickly.’

If anyone replied, I couldn’t make it out.

I made a grab for a rocky outcrop, stopping myself. There was a good chance I could drown in this cave. I pressed a button on the mask, causing statistics to scroll. I had plenty of oxygen.

The torchlight caught on a chain that led into the cave. I used it to drag my body along. My breaths were laboured. Thick seaweed threatened my grip, even with the gloves.

The sea gave a sudden roil, dashing me into the rock. At first, I thought the crack had come from my own skull. I illuminated the mask, just in time to see a teardrop seep in through a hairline break.

Fuck.

I steadied my breathing and forged on, keeping hold of the chain. When the space widened, I dialled up my headlamp, revealing the immensity of the cavern ahead of me. In the dead of the night, it was unfathomably black, like the basement of the Westminster Archon.

Drink.

Once more, I checked the golden cord. Still it was calling me deeper. As I faced the prospect of answering that call, the fear threatened to overwhelm me, but Arcturus was so close. I was right above him.

Dread tightened like a belt around my ribs. Drawing a long breath, I dived.

At first, my lamp revealed nothing. At once, water began to pool beneath my chin. I swam towards the bottom of the cavern, which I couldn’t see. When I tasted salt, I turned back, nearly choking in panic.

Do it for him.

I emptied the mask before diving a second time, racked by memories of the flood in Paris, getting no farther than before. Teeth gritted, I tried again, pushing a little deeper into the abyss, but I soon became disoriented. By the time I found the surface, I was close to passing out.

Come on , I told myself. Don’t you dare leave him again …

With fresh resolve, I went under a fourth time. I focused on the golden cord, following it to one side of the cavern.

At last, I saw it. A limestone coffin, which had somehow been secured to the wall. Its sides were adorned with carvings of naked humans, writhing in ecstasy or torment. I swam to it, my chest straining, and read the words on its lid.

HERE LIES A FLESH-TRAITOR

My stomach turned. I dug my fingers under the lid and used my heel for purchase. Gathering all my strength, I pulled.

The seawater was about to blind me. I kicked off the coffin and back to the surface, where I wrenched the mask off. More of the sea rushed in from outside, almost crushing me. Shaking uncontrollably, I unclipped my vest, letting it float away with the oxygen, then adjusted the broken mask, sucked in a breath, and returned to the coffin, faster with less weight on me.

Once more, I planted my boot on the side. With every tug on the lid, my arms protested. Arcturus had always been strong for me, and here I was, too human and weak to free him.

A shiver in the ?ther. I spun to see Terebell, dark hair billowing around her face. Errai and Lucida appeared from the gloom, their eyes like headlamps. Never in my life had I been so relieved to see them. I pointed at the coffin. Terebell swam to one side, Errai to the other. Together, the two Rephs drew the lid off, letting it fall into the depths.

When I saw what was inside, I was sure this was my first nightmare, even though voyants never dreamed.

Arcturus was chained in the coffin.

The sight of him stopped the blood in my veins. He wore the same uniform as when I had last seen him.

Before the Ranthen could get near him, I grasped his lolling head between my hands. There was even a chain around his throat. Holding my breath as the mask filled, I shook him, fingers bunched in his doublet. I could feel his spirit in his dreamscape, but it was as motionless as the cord.

No.

Terebell broke my grip on him. She pushed me towards Lucida, who gave me a boost to the surface. I clung to the cavern wall with one hand, groping for the mask with the other. As soon as it was off, I hurled it aside, and an animal sound of denial tore out of me.

If we cannot feed, we become delirious. We lose our gifts. Our ectoplasm vitrifies, and finally, we cease to function.

Arcturus was gone. His body was there, but it was no longer in touch with his spirit.

This was his underworld. His tomb.

Terebell came up without breathing. ‘Underqueen,’ she said, over my sobs of rage and the sepulchral roar, ‘calm yourself.’ The water reflected the glow in her eyes. ‘We are too late.’

‘He was starved,’ I forced out. Errai appeared beside her. ‘She starved him, didn’t she?’

‘Yes.’

‘Fuck.’ I hit the wall. ‘He—’ My throat scalded. ‘Help me get him out of here. Help me.’

‘There is no point,’ Errai snapped. ‘He cannot wake from that state.’

‘I don’t care!’

‘You demand that we drag a dead weight past the creatures, endangering our own lives?’

‘His spirit is in there,’ I shouted at him. ‘He was your friend, your ally. You can at least give him some fucking dignity.’ I looked between them, hair plastered to my face. ‘She planted him on Capri to lure and taunt us, knowing those cold spots would open around him. She used him as bait. We can’t let her keep him. I won’t leave him in the dark again.’

‘She put him here because we had no chance of saving him. We cannot wake his spirit now,’ Terebell said, but I could tell she was caving. ‘Arcturus is lost to us. He will only—’

‘Behead him, then. But don’t abandon him here.’ My voice cracked. ‘He deserves better than this.’

We drifted for a moment, lapped by the current. Terebell cast her gaze into the water.

‘We will take him,’ she said. ‘To prevent Nashira from using him against us again.’

‘Thank you.’

They went back under. I followed. When we reached the coffin, Lucida was still there, watching over Arcturus. Terebell swam past her and broke his chains with a twist of her hands – just iron this time, no red flower. Together, the four of us lifted him to the surface.

Nashira had no right to his body. She had no right to any part of him.

Between us, we pulled Arcturus out of the cave. I stayed close to his head, trying not to look at his face. I would break if I glimpsed it again.

Bloodthirsty screeches came from above. I sensed Lesath. Not just Lesath, but a swarm of Buzzers, at least twenty of them, their dreamscapes nauseating.

‘Paige,’ a voice roared.

I turned. The Ercole was approaching.

Terebell started towing Arcturus towards the boat. Keeping a tight hold of him, I helped as best I could, only to turn at the deafening sound of Buzzers. Lesath was hightailing it down the steps, pursued by a stampede, his arm oozing ectoplasm. Before they could overwhelm him, he dived into the sea. Now all he needed was aura.

‘Paige, over here!’

Nick was reaching for me from the Ercole . I took his outstretched hand and let him pull me into the fishing boat, water streaming off my wetsuit as I stumbled up the ladder.

The first enormous Buzzer reached the bottom of the steps. It clawed the waves with an elongated arm, only to recoil, hissing. One by one, the creatures fell utterly silent, white eyes staring after us. Ver?a and the others were just as speechless, transfixed by the sight.

The Ranthen climbed aboard and set Arcturus down. Ignoring the others, I sank to my knees beside him and covered his gloved fingers with mine, desperately searching for any sign of awareness. Tears mingled with the sweat on my face, the blood trickling from my brow.

It couldn’t be real.

He couldn’t be gone.

My hearing was muffled. I whispered his name as a darkness stole in, and I slumped on to the deck beside him, my head on his shoulder, one hand wrapped around his arm like a vice.

The last thing I saw were the stars above Capri.