Page 3 of The Dark Mirror (The Bone Season #5)

3

A WORLD INVERTED

PRAGUE

15 September 2060

Prague shone like a trove of bronze at the golden hour. It was a dreamscape breathed to life, ornamented and worked like filigree, its plasterwork as lovely as piping on a cake. Even the doors were exquisite. I could imagine stepping through one and finding myself in the Netherworld.

No one took any notice of me here, on these streets. The idea that there was a life beyond Scion, a world not warped around the concept of unnaturalness – that idea had been so far away, for so long, that I had almost forgotten it. It had been twelve years and a lifetime.

The trees were on the turn, their leaves tawny and falling. While sunlight coppered the city, Maria and I walked along the River Vltava, waiting for the clocks to strike. She had arranged for me to liaise with her supervisor, Radomír Dole?ek.

There were no transmission screens in Prague. Their absence reminded me of Scarlett Burnish. Her decision to save me had cost her everything.

Ver?a would meet us after her shift and take us to Radomír. I needed a walk first, to shake off the fatigue. Maria had lent me a knitted cap to help conceal my face. I told her about my nine weeks in Paris, including my work for Domino.

My head rang with everything I had learned over the course of breakfast. The two airstrikes must have been a grave blow to Scion, but Norway joining the fold would have softened it. For every step we took towards unearthing the anchor, it only seemed to sink deeper.

The airstrikes explained the marks on my face, which I had found on my hands, too. If only other mysteries could be so quickly solved. ‘It sounds like you did fine work for Domino,’ Maria said, returning me to the present. ‘Why were you demoted to a mere associate?’

‘I burned down the Chateau de Versailles.’

‘Very funny.’ She looked at me through her oversized sunglasses. ‘Wait. Are you joking?’

‘I would never joke about the wanton destruction of imperial property.’

‘Paige Mahoney.’ Maria threw her head back and laughed. ‘I always knew you would have made a brilliant Firebird, if I’d had my way. You’re learning.’

‘From the best,’ I said. Across the street, an amaurotic was performing for a crowd, making a marionette play a miniature violin. ‘I’m a fugitive. Am I all right to be outside?’

‘On balance, yes. I had a look for you on Protean, and—’

‘Protean?’

‘It’s like the Scionet, but open. Scion applied to Incrida – that is, the International Crime Database – to issue a red notice for you. It’s a global request to law enforcement to locate and detain a fugitive. But the general public won’t know anything about it. You’d have to go looking.’

‘Do other countries have to act on the notice?’

‘No, and the Czech government will not assist Scion. Of course, there is also the matter of the reward Scion is offering independently for your capture, to the tune of twenty million pounds.’

Twenty million pounds. It was such an obscene sum of money that I almost laughed.

‘Wow. I’m tempted to hand myself over for that,’ I said. ‘It’s absurd, for some girl off a dairy farm.’

‘Some girl off a dairy farm who did more damage in a year than Scion could ever have predicted. You’re lucky I hate the rich, or that bounty might tempt me to join them.’ Maria took an electronic cigarette from behind her ear and gave it a twist, making the end glow blue. ‘I think you’re safe on the streets, but I recommend you keep a low profile, just in case.’

I nodded. The sunlight flickered and sparked on the Vltava, reminding me of the Thames.

‘I’m guessing the Ranthen aren’t too happy with my absence,’ I said.

‘When are the Ranthen ever happy?’ Maria blew minty vapour from the corner of her mouth. ‘Nick may know, if Radomír can put us back in touch.’

‘Is it just Radomír we’re meeting?’

‘He’s invited a courier named Yousry, though I’m not sure why. And Ver?a, of course. She assists Radomír.’ A bell tolled in a nearby tower. ‘Let’s go and meet her, shall we?’

‘You sound nervous.’

‘Ah, you know how it is, introducing people from different parts of your life.’

I did know. It had been a strange experience when Arcturus Mesarthim met Nick Nyg?rd.

Malá Strana was home to a number of manicured gardens, framed by ornamental trees. Their leaves were turning red and gold. In one garden, a woman crouched beside a rosebush with a set of clippers. She was about the same age as Maria, in her late thirties or early forties, wearing peg trousers and a green coat over a blouse.

Seeing us, she stood, a smile crinkling the corners of her dark eyes. Her thick hair was the brown of molasses and drawn into an elegant tuck, showing a pair of hoop earrings.

‘Hello, you.’

‘Hello.’ Maria kissed her. ‘Ver?a, meet Paige Mahoney. Paige, this is Veronika Norlenghi.’

‘At last,’ Ver?a said warmly. Freckles peppered her tanned olive skin, dusting her cheeks and neckline. ‘Paige, welcome. I’ve heard so much about you. How are you feeling?’

‘Better than I did,’ I said. ‘Thanks for helping me, Ver?a.’

‘It was the least I could do, after everything you’ve done to prevent Scion moving any farther into Europe.’ Ver?a took the measure of me. ‘Have you remembered anything at all?’

‘Not yet.’

‘I am confident we can work on it.’ She folded the roses into brown paper. ‘Thank you for meeting me here. My friend had a surgery this week, so I thought I would collect these for him.’

‘She says this like she doesn’t spend most of every day helping people,’ Maria said to me.

Ver?a gave her a soft look as she taped the paper. ‘I understand this is your first time outside Scion in a decade, Paige,’ she said. ‘Prague is the perfect city to reacquaint yourself with the world.’

‘You must love it here,’ I said. ‘It’s beautiful.’

‘Yes, it is. I’m glad to be back. I was born in Prague, but I lived for many years in Italy.’

I nodded at the flowers. ‘Are these just a gift, or does your friend need them as numa?’

‘Numa?’

‘I don’t know the Czech word,’ Maria mused. ‘You know, love, like my fire.’

‘Oh, yes. Juraj uses flowers for divination. I persuaded the mayor to set this garden aside for that purpose,’ Ver?a said. ‘Now anyone with that gift can apply for a key and take flowers.’

The idea that a local authority would accommodate voyants – give something to us for nothing, to help us connect with the ?ther – left me speechless. I had woken to a world inverted.

‘They don’t use the Seven Orders here,’ Maria said to me. ‘Or anywhere beyond Scion, really.’

‘Fortunately.’ Ver?a made a sound of disapproval. ‘That pamphlet was translated into Czech, but it’s considered an academic curiosity, at best. Most of us just call ourselves jasnovidci , and don’t bother so much with the small categories. Maru, would you carry these?’ she said to Maria, holding out the bunch of roses. ‘I’ll drive them to Juraj after dinner.’

‘Where is dinner?’ Maria asked her. ‘P?ekousnout?’

‘Yes. A bar that Domino uses for meetings,’ Ver?a told me. ‘It’s near Prague Castle.’

‘Does Czechia have a monarchy?’ I asked.

‘Not any more, but we have leftovers. There is much here that you would not see in London.’

‘Frank Weaver would pass out in Old Town,’ Maria said with a chuckle.

‘It would all be closed down under Scion,’ Ver?a agreed. ‘There is the Orloj, the astronomical clock, our reminder of the inevitability of death. The synagogues of Josefov, and Tyn, the church in the Staromák – and of course, there are many, many absinthe shops.’

Even if Jaxon would be fuming over the lack of respect for On the Merits of Unnaturalness , he would be in his element here. A city of macabre clocks, where absinthe flowed on every street, would appeal to his particular tastes. As for Arcturus, he would spend months exploring this place, with its opera houses and art galleries, museums and pleasure gardens. Prague was a monument to human imagination, its cobbles steeped in centuries of talent. I could see him drinking it all in, walking through it at my side.

The thought of him weighted my chest again. The golden cord refused to move.

Ver?a led us down a narrow street, where cakes were being dusted with sugar and snapped up by tourists. Most held their own cameras, or used their phones to take pictures. Another shock for the collection. No denizen was allowed a camera for personal use in Scion.

‘Keep your head down,’ Maria muttered. ‘Scion may not be in Czechia, but if your face ends up on Protean, I’m sure they will find a way to come after you.’

I nodded, adjusting my cap.

We stopped at a sweetshop before Ver?a unlocked the door of an apricot building. From its interior courtyard, we followed her up a set of steps, into an apartment with painted ceilings and sash windows. Between the three of us, we got the roses into vases of water.

‘There,’ Ver?a said, placing one beside a pair of silver candlesticks. ‘Let me change, and we’ll head to P?ekousnout. We have a great deal to discuss.’

P?ekousnout turned out to be a cellar bar in the castle district of Hrad?any, tucked under a winding street that translated as Golden Lane. We went through a red door studded with iron, and I followed Ver?a down to the bar, where dripping candles and a roaring fire held off the shadows.

About twenty people had gathered in this hideaway, their voices piling like crushed velvet. Most of them were amaurotic, but a crystal ball shone on a mantelpiece. We sat at a table close to the fire, beneath a painting of a woman picking a pomegranate from a tree. At any other time, I would have relished the prospect of plotting revolution in a new theatre of war, far away from Scion, but for all I tried, I couldn’t shake my stubborn thoughts of Arcturus. Nadine had no reason to stick her neck out for a Reph, but she had spoken up for him.

Tell me where you are.

‘I will get us some drinks.’ Ver?a let her wavy hair fall to her waist. ‘Paige, what would you like?’

I looked at the menu, handwritten in Czech. ‘I don’t, um—’

‘She’ll have a beer,’ Maria said, rescuing me. ‘How about that chocolate one we tried?’ Ver?a headed to the bar. ‘She will insist at some point, sweet. Prague is famous for its beer.’

‘Fine by me.’ I glanced over my shoulder. ‘You’re sure it’s safe to talk?’

‘As safe as it can ever be. Everyone in this bar is connected to Domino. Though I know that doesn’t make it fail proof.’ She reached for a carafe of water. ‘So what do you think of Ver?a?’

‘I think she’s lovely, and you’re smitten.’

‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Yes. You could see that blush from Galway.’

‘True.’ Maria sent a dazed look after her. ‘You know, she’s fluent in seven languages. She’s been an interior designer, a professional singer, a tour guide, and several other things, each more amazing than the last. Oh, and she had a supporting role in an award-winning Italian film. All this and she’s not even forty. How I caught her interest is a mystery to me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s just so interesting . You know when you meet people who lead the most fascinating lives, and yours seems to pale in comparison?’

‘Right,’ I said. ‘This from the woman who fought in a war at fifteen, escaped from prison, hitchhiked across Europe, joined the criminal underworld of an empire created by giants from a dying realm, helped kick off a revolution, worked as a spy and can read the future in fire.’

Maria opened her mouth, closed it and tilted her head. ‘I never thought of it that way.’

‘Mimi.’

The voice came from a tiny slip of a woman. Her brown skin was bright from the heat, and a knitted hat slouched over long dark hair. She flashed a grin at Maria, who went to embrace her.

‘Nuray,’ Maria said warmly. ‘Kak ya karash, priyatelko?’

‘Biva.’

They went to the bar, speaking what I assumed was Bulgarian, leaving me with the other arrival. He was heavyset, with a curved nose and thinning black hair, oiled back from a brown face.

‘Radomír Dole?ek,’ he said. ‘Do you remember your alias?’

‘Flora Blake,’ I said.

‘Very good.’ Radomír extended a large hand, which I shook. ‘I am pleased to meet you. Nina tells me you woke up in Wroc?aw and remember nothing of how you got there.’

‘Yes.’

‘I assumed it was the amnesic procedure, but you do remember Domino.’ He took off his coat. ‘A troubling turn of events.’

‘Story of my life, sadly.’ I looked across the room, to where the other three were chatting as they waited for the drinks. ‘You were the one who stopped it happening to Nina.’

‘Yes. I saw that she could be a good instructor, even if she is too reckless for fieldwork.’

‘What is it you do here?’

Radomír clasped his broad fingers on the table, showing a plain gold ring on his left hand.

‘The Libu?e Institute of Prague is the oldest Domino training facility, established almost thirty years ago,’ he said.

‘I hadn’t realised Domino was that old.’

‘It is, although it grew slowly. We have a wide network of recruiters, who find people with potential to go undercover in the Republic of Scion. Veronika is among my best.’ He nodded to her. ‘We assess their suitability and train them to survive. You would not have needed that, coming from inside the empire, but you should have been instructed in combat and sabotage. I understand this was not the case for either you or Nina.’

‘I didn’t even get an assessment, as far as I know,’ I admitted. ‘I think I was a special case.’

Somehow I doubted I would have passed. I had been fresh out of the torture chamber.

‘It is dangerous for operatives to work without proper instruction and preparation. Command is taking too many shortcuts in recent months. Too many special cases ,’ Radomír said. ‘This is why we are having problems. Scion is moving fast, so Domino does the same.’

‘What are you grumbling at her, Rado?’ Maria was back with three glasses of beer, each with a layer of foam on it. ‘Don’t mind him, Paige. He’s softer than he looks.’

‘You should not call her by that name,’ Radomír warned. ‘This bounty on her is no small temptation.’ When Maria held out a glass, he made a dismissive gesture. ‘Not tonight.’

‘I tried.’ Maria sat beside me. ‘Where is Yousry?’

‘On his way. He will eat before he arrives.’

‘Excellent. More for us.’ She passed me a beer. ‘Here, sweet. Welcome to the free world.’

‘Thanks.’ I took a sip of the drink, which was so bitter I grimaced. ‘This is vile.’

Maria grinned. ‘I love it, myself, but it is an acquired taste.’ I willed it sweeter and drank again. ‘I’ll get you some wine to wash it down. A nice Moravian red.’

Ver?a returned alone, while the other woman went to a different table. ‘That was my old friend, Nuray Ercetin,’ Maria told me. ‘She helped with the raid on Chakalnya.’

‘Scion identified Nuray during that raid. We extracted her immediately,’ Radomír said. ‘I am keeping a close watch on the others, to see if they will also need to be removed.’

‘Domino hired us with full knowledge of what we faced in that prison,’ Maria said. ‘Did anyone really expect us to free one man and leave the rest to rot?’

‘You should not have been put on that assignment in the first place.’

‘Enough about work for the time being, please,’ Ver?a said. ‘We will eat and enjoy ourselves.’ She held up her beer with a smile. ‘Na zdraví, my friends.’

‘Na zdraví,’ Maria and Radomír said, and we clinked glasses. I braced myself and drank again.

Ver?a had ordered quite a feast to welcome me to Prague. Roast duck and pheasant, steak with a garlic marinade, tureens of mushroom soup, spiced beef sausages, fried cheese, shredded raw cabbage, chicken tossed in breadcrumbs and a thick goat stew, followed by apricot dumplings and an entire honey cake topped with cream and chopped walnuts. I avoided the beef, as always, but soon cultivated a taste for everything else.

Radomír was a man of few words, but Maria and Ver?a were talkative enough for all of us. They discussed a band that had toured in the city, a ballet they had seen. Ver?a had a knack for storytelling. She described the local spirits, like the poltergeist of ?ernín Palace, and the shade of a thief whose shrivelled arm hung in a church in the Old Town.

I was content to listen while I chipped away at the food and beer. By the time I reached the foamy dregs at the bottom of the glass, it tasted better, which probably meant I was drunk.

‘Well done,’ Maria said, patting me on the back. ‘Let me get you that wine I promised.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course – it’s our treat. Ver?a and I will split it.’ She rose, taking the glass with her. ‘Or perhaps Radomír will peel open the mighty Domino wallet, if we can get him drunk enough.’

Radomír sipped from his glass of water. ‘I need a clear head.’

‘In your entire life, have you ever had fun?’

‘I am too busy. And I do not need drink to have fun,’ he said. ‘But yes, I will pay for this.’

‘Good man.’

Someone had started to sing along to a cello. Once Maria had gone, Ver?a sidled into the space she had left. ‘Do you want anything else, Paige?’

‘Oh, no, I’m stuffed,’ I said truthfully. ‘Thank you.’

‘You liked the beer?’

‘Delicious.’ Before she could offer me another, I said, ‘Radomír says you’re a recruiter.’

‘Yes. I am also an administrator and translator at the Libu?e Institute,’ Ver?a said. ‘I wanted to be an intelligence agent, but Domino doesn’t often send clairvoyants into Scion – we would be in constant danger of detection and execution. So I do what I can from outside.’

‘Maria mentioned you met a long time ago.’

‘Twenty years.’ She sipped her beer. ‘It is quite a story. I decided to go travelling before university, with two friends and my sister, Debora. We were two weeks into our gap year when the anchor invaded Greece. Scion had never attacked a country, so this was a great shock.’

‘Not too great,’ Radomír said. ‘You must have been too young or distracted to notice the speculation.’

‘Perhaps. Despite the danger, we were determined to achieve our goal of visiting every country in free Europe,’ Ver?a said. ‘Our trip was meant to end in Kazanl?k in Bulgaria. After a few months, we decided it was safe – that Scion only wanted Greece – and went to see the Rose Valley. A few days after we arrived, Scion crossed the border.’

Radomír shook his head.

‘All flights were cancelled,’ Ver?a went on. ‘It was the end of our trip, so we had very little money. We hitchhiked and walked as far as Sofia before it ran out. A lot of people were stranded in the capital. Maria was handing out food to the outsiders. She saw my fear and made me laugh, even though we didn’t speak each other’s languages.’ She finished her beer. ‘Scion approached the city not long after our arrival. My sister is diabetic, and with medical supplies running low, she became unwell. With Scion on the way, Maria bribed a station guard to get us on the last train from Sofia, leaving her with nothing to exchange for her own safety.’

Maria had spent years in prison for that kindness.

‘We reached Serbia just before Scion did,’ Ver?a continued. ‘Our parents met us in Belgrade, and we got Debora to a hospital in time. Maria saved her life.’

‘And then you met her again here.’

‘Eventually. After our escape, I moved to Italy to study, but I often wondered what had happened to the young fighter who helped us. When I returned to Prague, I applied for a job at the Libu?e Institute, which I thought was a private museum. When I realised the truth, I asked to go into Scion East, to see if I could find Maria.’

‘I denied this request, of course,’ Radomír said.

‘Yes. Fortunately, this year, Radomír brought Maria out himself.’

Maria chose that moment to come back. She handed me a glass of red wine.

‘What solemn faces.’ She had got herself a serving of absinthe. ‘Did Radomír try to tell a joke?’

‘Ver?a was telling us how you met,’ I said.

‘Ah, yes.’ Maria planted a kiss on her temple. ‘The ?ther was good, to bring us back together.’

Ver?a clasped her hand, giving her a tender smile.

‘Now we have eaten, we must get to business,’ Radomír said. ‘Flora, please, tell me what you remember.’

I was starting to feel tired, but I recounted everything again, in as much detail as I had to Maria. When I was finished, Ver?a leaned into the candlelight.

‘Flora needs protection, Radek. She could stay in Prague and do the training she should have received,’ she said. ‘We could keep her safe, as we do with other fugitives, like Nuray.’

Radomír sat in deep thought for a time.

‘This abduction may not be an isolated incident,’ he said at last. ‘Domino has seen a number of security breaches in the last few months. I do not know what to make of these Americans.’

‘I’m not absolutely sure they were American, but—’

‘Regardless, it is imperative that you see Command. I informed them of your return this morning, and they have already requested your presence,’ Radomír said. ‘Your former supervisor classified you as missing in action, but Command can reactivate you as an associate.’

‘Where is Command based?’

‘For safety reasons, I will not tell you the exact location, but our headquarters are in Italy. Maria is already going there. I could arrange for you to travel together.’

I exchanged a glance with Maria. The secret meeting she had mentioned.

‘That would be appreciated,’ Maria said. ‘I don’t want to misplace Flora again.’

‘Yousry will drive you. That’s why I asked him to join us.’ Radomír frowned. ‘On that note, I will call him. He should not be so late.’

He stood and headed back upstairs.

‘I worry about this meeting in Italy,’ Ver?a said. ‘Other than Radomír, no one from the Libu?e Institute has ever been summoned to headquarters, to my knowledge.’

‘If they’re calling in a known arsonist like myself, things really must be desperate.’ Maria speared a fork into the last dumpling. ‘Don’t lose sleep over it, love. I’ll tell you everything.’

‘You can’t do that, zlato. Radomír has already been too generous, letting us stay together.’

I looked between them. ‘Are relationships not allowed in Domino?’

‘They are discouraged, in case of leaks. Whatever Command says to Maria, she will not be authorised to share it with anyone, even within Domino,’ Ver?a said. ‘Radek has been looking the other way, and we owe him for reuniting us. I would prefer not to abuse his trust.’

‘All right.’ Maria swallowed her mouthful. ‘I don’t like it, but I won’t say a word. We’ll be in good hands with Yousry,’ she added to me. ‘He was the one who brought me to Prague. It will be a long drive to Italy, but I’ll ask him to give us coffee breaks.’

I nodded. My gaze caught on a rack of wine bottles, then drifted to the crackling fireplace.

Part of me feared, before that night. That I was a fool for wanting to know you . The words sent a long shiver down my back. For seeing you in everything, everywhere I turned.

The exhaustion was tiding back. I drained my glass, willing it to drown his voice, to wash away those memories with the rest.

Command might have some idea what had happened to Arcturus. In a matter of days, most of sub-network Mannequin had disappeared. Ducos had been our supervisor. She would have tried to track us all down, and reported her findings to the people at the top.

I might learn where he was. Or I might learn something I didn’t want to know.

‘Good evening, friends.’

Nuray Ercetin had come to our table, bringing a steaming cup with her. She had an aura that could have belonged to a soothsayer or augur – but perhaps I needed to stop thinking that way, in rigid orders. On the Merits of Unnaturalness had been my benchmark for too long.

‘So you are the Underqueen,’ Nuray said, interest in her green eyes. ‘Maria speaks highly of you.’

‘Nuray is from Türkiye,’ Maria said, ‘but she moved to Bulgaria when she was twelve.’ Nuray sat at my side, flicking back her sleek hair. ‘Have you had a good day?’

‘It was fine. Rado has found a place for me to stay, so I went to see it.’ Nuray set her drink on a coaster and lifted a satchel on to her lap. ‘I also did the castings, as you asked.’

‘Share them.’

I watched Nuray take out a few lumps of metal. ‘What sort of clairvoyance do you have?’

‘I melt tin and pour it into cold water, and the ?ther twists it into shapes. Sometimes I see or feel things,’ Nuray said. ‘Since the fumes are poisonous, lead gives the best outcomes – you die a little with each casting – but I prefer to use tin.’

‘Cully has the same gift,’ Maria told me, referring to her mollisher. ‘A few days before you arrived, I asked Nuray to work out if I would see you again, through the ?ther. She kept getting a shape that resembled a human skull.’

‘And you reunited with Paige in the Sedlec Ossuary.’ Ver?a chuckled. ‘Very good, Nuray.’

‘I’m glad that was the outcome,’ Nuray said. ‘I assumed it meant that you were dead, Underqueen.’

Now I remembered. Jaxon called her art molybdomancy . Hot wax could be used in a similar way.

‘Maria also requested that I scry for information about this secret meeting with Command.’ Nuray showed us a knotted silver lump. ‘If the shape isn’t clear, I hold the casting up to the light and interpret the shadow.’ She used the candle to do this, and we all looked at the wall. ‘Here is what the ?ther gave me. A message for you, Maria.’

Maria squinted. ‘What shape would you say it has taken?’

‘To me, it resembles an animal of some kind. You see the ears and muzzle?’

‘No, but my numen is fire, not metal.’ Maria sighed. ‘So the ?ther is being its usual clear and helpful self. Are we to be eaten by wolves, Nuray?’

‘The ?ther does not think or speak like us,’ Ver?a said. ‘You know, the shape … reminds me of something. I’m sure it will come to me. Paige?’

I studied it. I thought I could see the animal, but that might be because Nuray had put that idea in my head.

‘I’m not sure,’ I said. ‘It could be a wolf. Or a bear.’

‘Maria was the querent,’ Nuray said. ‘She should understand.’

‘I don’t,’ Maria said.

Nuray shrugged. ‘Fragile castings tend to indicate unlikely or possible futures. This one is strong, so it points to an old truth, or a certainty. I also had a brief vision, which is unusual for me. A flash of yellow eyes, bright as flame. Perhaps that’s what made me think of a wild animal.’

My chest tightened.

‘Paige, could you hold on to it?’ Maria said. ‘Sadly, this outfit has no pockets.’ I tucked the casting away, wondering what sort of tailor would forget about pockets. ‘It may look like a wolf, but Rephs also have yellow eyes. Could this somehow point to another invasion?’

I looked at Ver?a and Nuray, then at Maria, my brow furrowed.

‘I told them about the creators of Scion. Off the record,’ Maria said. ‘They’re handling it.’

‘It’s true that we have not had nervous breakdowns,’ Nuray said, ‘but give us time, my friend. We have not yet seen these beautiful giants.’ She picked up her drink. ‘I am still convinced this is something you dreamed up on too much absinthe, Mimi.’

‘It was a shock,’ Ver?a said, ‘but I do believe it.’ She glanced at Maria. ‘I believe you.’

Maria was seeking my gaze, as if she was afraid she might have overstepped. I answered with a nod. It was her truth to share as much as it was mine.

Radomír returned at that moment, looking grim as a storm. ‘Yousry is not answering.’ He picked up his coat. ‘We should leave now. I have informed the doorkeeper of a vulnerability.’

Maria stood. ‘Are you saying he might have been detained?’

‘I take no unnecessary risks. Veronika, Nuray, come back to the Institute with me. Nina, stay indoors with Flora and wait for me to send you a message, please.’

People were starting to leave the bar in an orderly fashion, some through an opening behind a rack of wine, which led into a stone tunnel. Ver?a nodded to Maria, then went down the passageway with Nuray. Maria threw back her entire glass of absinthe in one go.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said, beckoning me. ‘This way. We’ll be fine.’

Maria led me away from the bar on foot. In the apartment, she turned on a lamp and shut the door behind us, hooking several chains across.

‘Radomír is probably overreacting, but we’ll let him do his checks.’ She turned the deadlock. ‘Yousry will show up.’

I tried to speak, but nothing came out. There was a lid across my throat, screwed tight, bottling the air in my chest.

‘I’ll make us a nice cup of tea. That’s what we need,’ Maria said, with conviction. ‘You must be worn out after all that talking.’ She made for the kitchen, then stopped. ‘Paige?’ When I didn’t say a word, she came to my side. ‘Paige, it’s all right. You’re safe here.’

‘I can’t breathe,’ I whispered.

‘Come and sit down.’ Maria got me into a chair. ‘Paige, tell me what’s going on in your head.’

‘It’s … too big. Too much.’ I looked at her. ‘Does Yousry know I’m in Prague?’

‘No. Radomír prefers to do things in person.’ She crouched in front of me and took me by the hands. ‘You say it’s too big. Do you mean here, in Prague?’

‘The free world.’ My chest heaved. ‘I feel like I’m not really here. Like none of this is real.’

‘This happened to me, too. As soon as I saw the yellow streetlamps, I started weeping like a child.’

‘That’s the first thing I noticed. The lights.’

‘We lived for years in Scion. Of course it’s overwhelming to be free of it.’ With a joyless smile, she showed me her electronic cigarette. ‘You can make these things glow any colour. I chose blue, because it reminded me of the lamps of London. It reminded me of home.’

I was shivering like I was out in a blizzard. London was home, even if it was the capital of Scion.

‘We had a handle on things there, didn’t we?’ Maria said gently. ‘We carved ourselves a place in that citadel. And suddenly we were flung back out here, adrift in open water.’ A rueful grin. ‘I know it’s painfully ironic, but … it’s like we need an anchor, isn’t it?’

An eruption of helpless laughter escaped me. I laughed until my ribs hurt and tears escaped down my cheeks.

‘I know. I’m the sharpest wit in Europe.’ Maria chuckled, then looked worried. ‘Paige, you’re having a panic attack, and you’re drunk. Mirror me, if you can. Breathe in.’

Breathe in. Now I was back in Paris, yellow eyes before me. Yellow lights. Breathe in, Paige.

‘Maria,’ I said, my voice trembling, ‘if he didn’t betray me, then Nashira must have him. And he can’t have betrayed me, because the Mime Order was safe in April. And I can’t feel him.’

‘Feel him?’ Maria said. ‘Paige, are you talking about Warden?’

I was in my own head now, deep in my fears. The more I thought about his betrayal, the less sense it made.

The betrayal had shaken me to the core. In the days that followed, I hadn’t been able to think straight. But the idea that he could have played such a long game, moulding each lie to win my trust, was so hard to believe in hindsight. His interest in humankind had been real. He had learned to play the organ, kept books and a gramophone in Magdalen. He had not flirted with flesh-treachery, but committed to it, savoured it. Every moment of that night had felt true.

Surely there was no reason for him to go that far. Surely there was no reason for him to have been kind to Michael Wren or Fazal Osman or Gail Fisher, the other human residents of Magdalen. He had taken them all under his wing years before my arrival in Oxford.

Surely there was another explanation.

‘He was my anchor,’ I said in a whisper. Maria leaned closer to hear me. ‘Like Ver?a is yours.’

Maria scrutinised my face. I saw the realisation flicker into her eyes.

‘In … the same way?’

I closed my eyes, and nodded.