Page 78 of The Song Rising

“Ooh, fancy.”

She cocked her head, beckoning us into the hideout. The interior told me that this had once been a small retail gallery, presumably built for the overseers and anyone else with more than a few pennies in their pockets. Faded shopfronts promised fine perfumes and jewelery.

And a stranger was waiting, silhouetted against the moonlight that shone in through the roof.

“Your friends told me you’re interested in Vigile help, so I thought I’d call a friend of my own.” Catrin laid a hand on his back. “This is Major Arcana, my contact in the Night Vigilance Division.”

It was exactly what I’d wanted from her, but I found myself stiffening as he came closer. His mouth and nose, like mine, were hidden in a respirator.

“Paige Mahoney.” It distorted his voice. “An honor, truly.”

He extended a hand, which I cautiously shook. I could bear the idea of working with Vigiles if it moved us closer to Senshield, but old instincts weren’t easily quelled.

“Tell me, Major,” I said, “do you still hunt your own kind?”

“Not anymore. Cat persuaded me to desert,” he said. His creased brow softened when their eyes met, reminding me uncomfortably of the way Cutmouth had looked at Hector. “And I had my reasons for joining the NVD. One was Roberta Attard. Under her, the Scuttlers won’t adapt to change. And we all know change is coming now.”

“I wonder if you’d still be on the other side if machines weren’t coming for your job.”

“Maybe I would. It gave me a full stomach and somewhere to sleep,” he said evenly, ignoring Tom’s dark look. “Many voyants feel their only option is to remain in the ranks. If I can help you destroy Senshield for the sake of their livelihoods, I will.”

They must have a close bond, these people who had traded honor for borrowed years from Scion. Catrin touched his arm lightly before she paced across the floor.

“You let me out, Mahoney, so you must want to raise some sort of hell in this citadel,” she said. “The question is . . . what sort of hell?”

“I told you. I need to get into a factory.”

“Which one?”

“SciPLO Establishment B.”

She looked from face to face, as if one of us was going to crack a smile and admit to the joke. “Brogue’s got ambition,” she said. “What do you think you’re going to find in that place?”

“Portable Senshield scanners.”

She snorted, but Major Arcana breathed in, making his respirator whirr.

“We’re trying to find Senshield’s core,” Eliza said to him, “so we can destroy it. Paige thinks if we see how the scanners are being manufactured, we might be able to pinpoint the location of what powers them. It might even be inside Establishment B, if we’re lucky.”

I doubted that, but we could hope. We were overdue some luck.

“Portable scanners. We saw this. In the cards.” Major Arcana was muttering to himself. “Ace of Swords. The exposure of truth. You are the one who comes with the blade . . . to cut away the shadows Scion wove around us.” He stared at me for a long moment before turning away abruptly, as if breaking from a trance. “All the years of loyalty we gave them . . .”

I was reminded painfully of the tarot reading Liss had given me before her death in the colony. Catrin placed a hand on Arcana’s waist and drew him toward her.

“I’m sure the Major would love to help you,” she said to me, pressing him close, “but I have one condition.”

“There are no conditions, Attard,” I said. “I released you in exchange for your help.”

“And now I’m negotiating, like any good daughter of Nerio Attard.” Catrin had a wolfish look on her face. “I want to come in with you. That’s my condition. I’d like to help liberate voyant-kind from Senshield.” Seeing my jaw tighten, she paused. “Of course, if you say no, I could just go to Roberta and tell her what you’re doing. I’m sure that will go down well.”

I should have known that our bargain couldn’t be so easy. I couldn’t have Catrin Attard joining us; she would be a liability.

“Major,” I said, turning to him, “you don’t need Catrin’s permission to help us. If you think the Ace of Swords pointed to me—”

“I’d do most anything to get rid of Senshield,” he admitted, “but I won’t go against Cat.”

I distinctly saw the corner of her mouth flinch. It had me wondering how these two had met, far less found solace in each other: the conflicted Vigile and the firebrand Attard sister, who now stood together, firmly allied. As much as I disliked the idea of her coming with us, I had no choice but to accept.

---