‘Paige?’
‘Sorry. I didn’t see you. I’m just—’ I stopped when I saw his face. ‘What’s happened?’
‘It’s Dani. She’s gone.’
I shook my head. ‘Gone?’
‘Every trace of her: her clothes, her equipment, everything. No sign of a struggle.’
‘That means nothing.’ I gripped his arm. ‘Nick, she could have been discovered—’
‘I doubt it. They would have stayed in the hideout to lie in wait for her allies.’
If she hadn’t been taken, then she had left us of her own accord. My first deserter, and it was Danica, of all people. Danica Pani?, the last person on earth to run from a problem.
Surely she hadn’t gone to Jaxon.
‘Eliza saw her earlier, and she didn’t say anything. I think what happened at the warehouse really shook her, Paige.’
The words dug out a hollow in my chest. ‘That’s our last link to Senshield gone,’ I said. His face reflected my disquiet. ‘Maybe it’s time for us to approach the Vigiles. Like Warden said, they want Senshield destroyed as much as we do, and they might have information. We can’t give up on finding the core. Destroying it is the only way.’
‘We’ll need to be very careful.’
‘You don’t need to remind me.’ I drew my coat closer. ‘They . . . confirmed the report.’
‘Tom said.’ He laid a hand on my shoulder. ‘Are you going to tell them the whole truth?’
‘I don’t know yet.’ I glanced behind me and lowered my voice. ‘I’m announcing the news tomorrow. I want to do it tonight, but—’
‘Don’t, Paige. If you’re doing this, you need to know what you’re going to say. It needs planning. And you should get some sleep,’ he added gently. ‘You don’t look well.’
‘I’m fine.’
‘You’re not a machine. Just give yourself a few hours to think and rest up.’
I wanted to argue with him, but he was right. My muscles ached from the lingering shock of my fall into the river. I hadn’t washed or eaten properly in days. My wounds were hurting where I had forgotten to put on salve.
And there was someone I had to see.
Something I needed to repair. Not just for my own sake.
‘Tomorrow it is.’ I reached into my jacket. ‘Zeke gave this to Jack Hickathrift to pass on to you. I haven’t read it.’ I held out the scroll. ‘They’ve left Seven Dials. I’m sorry.’
He took it carefully. ‘Thank you, s?tnos.’ It went into his coat, close to his heart, as he squinted at the snow. ‘Let’s hope they don’t run into any scanners. And that they’ve found somewhere warm.’
I didn’t tell him that they might have gone to Jaxon. He already looked so exhausted.
‘They’ll know all about it tomorrow morning,’ I said. ‘Wherever they are.’
He sighed. ‘I said I would help Wynn polish her medical skills tonight. You just rest, Paige. Doctor’s orders.’
‘Sure.’
He walked into the shadows of the Mill. I eased up my hood and headed out into the snow.
6
Hourglass
It was nine by the time I entered the Lambeth hideout, drenched and shivering, my face raw from the cold. I took off my coat and boots and reached for the golden cord.
There was no reply.
I needed to see him. Now, before he left for the Netherworld. It could be weeks before he returned. To distract myself, I lit a fire and made as much of a meal as I could with our limited stores of food, then boiled some water and filled the tin bath. I sat in it until my fingertips creased.
Had Danica gone to Jaxon with our secrets? Had she been a spy all along – had we walked into the trap because of her? I was doubting everything I had once believed about the people closest to me.
On the other hand, she might have just lost her nerve – and I couldn’t blame her for running from Vance. She had been a small child when Scion had invaded her country, as I had been. She must have a healthy fear of anything related to the army.
I brushed my teeth and tended to my wounds. I could see why Nick had said I looked ill. My face was almost grey. Still, he had been right: being full and clean made me feel more alert than I had in a few days. Now all I needed was more than two hours’ sleep.
I tried the cord again. Nothing. Warden wasn’t coming.
In the parlour, I crawled on to the couch with a blanket, too bone-tired to face the stairs. Beneath the pall of fatigue, I had the same feeling I experienced whenever I thought of Jaxon or saw a Vigile, and it wouldn’t go away. That fight-or-flight sensation.
When the front door opened, I sat up. I heard him step into the hallway, felt his familiar dreamscape. He crossed the parlour and lowered himself into the armchair.
Neither of us looked at the other for some time. Finally, I said, ‘Was Terebell happy for you to come here?’
‘I did not ask her for permission.’ Snow was melting in his hair. ‘What is it you need of me, Paige?’
Even now, I loved hearing him say my name. Loved the way it sounded on his tongue. He imbued it with singularity, as if I were the only person in the world who could ever possess it.
‘The report was accurate,’ I said. ‘The scanners have been adjusted to identify the fourth order. The majority of our recruits are detectable now.’ I swallowed. ‘I’ll be announcing it to the Unnatural Assembly tomorrow.’
He was silent for some time. ‘Until Senshield is fully portable, and fully functional in terms of the orders it can detect, the Mime Order can survive,’ he said. ‘You must focus on gathering and training recruits, preferably by draining them from the Vigiles’ ranks. Then we begin to move against the anchor. With you as its leader, the movement will thrive.’
‘You really believe that.’
‘I always have.’
There was a half-empty bottle of wine on the table – Nick, again, it must be – and I reached for it.
He was right. Vance had dealt us a terrible blow, but we still had time: it would be a few weeks before there were enough scanners to end free movement.
‘Let’s just hope the syndicate doesn’t find out that Vance used me,’ I said.
‘You have decided not to tell the whole truth, then.’
‘It will only cause discord.’
He made no comment. I rose and took a wine glass from the cabinet before returning to the couch.
‘Warden, I owe you an explanation,’ I said, ‘and I wanted you to hear it before you leave.’
‘You owe me nothing.’
‘I do.’
I filled the glass for him and handed it over. His eyes were almost human in their darkness.
It took me a few tries before I began. I wet my lips, looked away, looked back at him.
‘When I saw him last,’ I finally said, ‘Jaxon claimed that you were . . . bait for me. That you chose me in the colony on Terebell’s orders, not of your own volition. And that made me think that everything was a lie, that the Guildhall was—’ My cheeks warmed. ‘That it was just a way to cement my trust in you. That you didn’t really mean it.’
‘Bait,’ he repeated.
‘He’s saying that you were ordered to seduce me. For her purposes.’
That brought a flare into his irises.