Page 160 of The Bone Season

‘This is Tertius. He will join us,’ Warden said. ‘Do finish your briefing, 30.’

Tertius gave me a venomous look. At this point, I must have earned the ire of the whole family. 30 nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear.

‘Two vehicles will take us to London. They should have just got to Magdalen Bridge,’ 30 said. ‘If all goes well, we’ll be back to our residences by dawn.’

‘It must go well,’ Situla said. ‘If it does not, you will all be held accountable.’

‘Come,’ Warden said. ‘Let us not keep the drivers waiting.’

Carl looked as if Novembertide had come early. He almost skipped after Warden. I was about to follow him when Nashira appeared at my side.

‘Suzerain,’ I said, unnerved.

‘I know who you are.’ She spoke quietly enough that only I could hear. ‘If you do not bring back a dreamwalker, I will assume thatyouare the Pale Dreamer.’

Before I could reply, she walked away. I took a deep breath and followed Warden.

Two black cars had appeared on Folly Bridge, which the performers called the Brig of Dread. The city guards blindfolded us all before they locked us into our respective vehicles. I found myself in the backseat with Carl, in a heated and upholstered seat.

After three months of living in a medieval building, mostly by fire and candlelight, it was strange to be in a car. It drove away from the lost city.

Nashira couldn’t really believe we could apprehend eight voyants and waltz away before dawn. I knew better. I knew Jaxon. This was going to be a brutal clash. I would be fighting on one side and rooting for the other.

Even if I couldn’t escape, I had to get word to him. I had to let him know I was alive.

Not long after we left, the car slowed. I looked around. The guards had tied the blindfold too well for me to get a glimpse around it.

‘This is our first stop, Winterbrook,’ Warden said. ‘You may remove your blindfolds.’

Winterbrook, the support outpost. I wished I could get a look at it, but even without the blindfold, I couldn’t see much in the dark.

A Vigile was at the door. Even though it was past sundown, she was amaurotic. ‘Take off your jackets,’ she said, her voice muffled by a helmet.

Once I had, she grasped my arm and pushed up my sleeve. She injected something under my skin, causing a sharp twinge. Carl kept up a brave face as she did the same to him. The doors were shut and locked.

‘Warden,’ I said, ‘what was that?’

He caught my eye in the mirror. I cradled my arm, watching blood seep from the puncture.

‘Put your blindfolds back on,’ the driver said. ‘Next stop is London.’

I tied mine with clammy hands.

It had to be a tracking device. Warden must have been ordered not to tell me.

Now I had no chance of escape. Danica might be able to fry a tracker, but she wouldn’t have the right tools on her in Trafalgar Square, if she was there at all. I leaned back in my seat, close to despair.

After a while, I nodded off. Despite my best attempts, I had barely slept the day before. I woke with a sense of confusion when the car stopped.

‘We have arrived,’ Warden said.

My heart thumped. ‘Can I take off the blindfold?’

‘Yes.’

I removed it, blinking in the familiar blue glow of London. The car was rolling past Hyde Park, where Eliza and I often went for brisk walks on our breaks in winter, drinking hot mecks and eating roasted chestnuts.

My chest ached. I wanted to get out of this car and run into my citadel. I wanted long and lamplit evenings in the den. I wanted to climb skyscrapers with Nick.

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