Page 153 of The Bone Season

‘You worked at an oxygen bar in I-4,’ she pressed. ‘Is that why you know about them?’

‘Yes,’ I said.

So she knew roughly where we were based. Or perhaps she had just guessed that from the meeting place, Trafalgar Square. It was a disputed part of the citadel, claimed by Jaxon and Hector.

‘Given the rarity of dreamwalkers,’ Nashira said, ‘I am surprised to hear you may have worked at such close quarters. Surely the White Binder would have employed you, too.’

‘No,’ I said.

Nashira waited. Now I had to think even faster than I had for Warden.

‘The Pale Dreamer is the heir to I-4. She’s violent and petty,’ I said. ‘She would have killed me if she thought she had a rival. The White Binder loves her because she’s unique. If he found out some upstart waitron had the same gift, it would threaten her place. I kept out of their way.’

Nashira drank for the first time, from a silver goblet.

‘I see.’

Cold sweat dampened my undershirt. I had worked in the syndicate for long enough to know when someone was toying with me.

Nashira Sargas was many things, but she didn’t strike me as stupid. Even without the pamphlet, she must have put the other evidence together. There was no way I could have worked on the same turf as another dreamwalker and avoided her gaze for three years.

No, Nashira knew exactly who I was.

‘If the Pale Dreamerisa dreamwalker,’ she said, ‘then the White Binder may be hiding some of the most powerful clairvoyants in the citadel. It is rare that we have an opportunity to add such precious jewels to our crown.’

I swallowed.

‘Your competence on this assignment is vital, 40. If anyone is capable of recognising the dreamwalker from the Seven Seals, it is a fellow dreamwalker.’

She really was sending us to London.

This was my chance to escape.

‘Of course, Suzerain,’ I said. ‘Do you know why the Seven Seals are convening?’

‘A handful of Irish clairvoyants have established contact with the London syndicate. Antoinette Carter is their leader,’ Nashira said. ‘Carter, whose real name is unknown, has been a fugitive for over a decade. From what the æther tells us, the Seven Seals will be meeting her.’

I had to work hard to control my expression. Leon had pulled it out of the bag.

Antoinette Carter. Thirteen years ago, she had escaped the bloodbath on St Stephen’s Green. A fellow survivor – one of the few.

She was coming to London.

How she planned to get there, I had no idea. The Irish Sea was almost impossible to cross, the coastlines guarded by watchtowers and patrol ships. Whatever Jaxon was offering, it must be quite a prize.

Jaxon. At this time of night, he would either be asleep or nursing a glass of sugared absinthe, with no idea his beloved æther had betrayed him.

‘It is imperative that a sister syndicate does not form in Ireland,’ Nashira said. ‘Consequently, this meeting must be averted. Your primary aim is to capture Antoinette Carter. I intend to find out what power she hides.’

I thought back to the night I had been detained. The Overseer had been surrounded by people in uniforms I hadn’t recognised. They must have been red-jackets on an external assignment.

That was how they kept the secret of the Bone Seasons. Even the Vigiles must not know.

‘The second aim is to apprehend the Seven Seals. The White Binder is a critical target.’

In my lap, my hands were sweating.

‘You will be supervised by my consort and his cousin, Situla Mesarthim,’ Nashira said. ‘I will hold you all responsible if Carter is allowed to return to Ireland.’ She looked at each of us. ‘Is that understood?’

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