Page 164 of The Bone Season

Eliza watched it happen. Jaxon must have sent her to clear the area. After all, Antoinette Carter was taking an enormous risk by coming here.

Warden glanced down at me. ‘Forgive me. I did not know you would be silenced.’

I dismissed his concern with a shake of my head.

‘Remember what I told you.’ His voice was very soft. ‘Remember what is at stake.’

In the distance, Big Ben chimed. Its stately clangs rang out from Whitehall – the unmistakeable music of London. I closed my eyes, listening.

At the first booming strike, Nick arrived on the scene. By the fourth, Eliza had moved to his side. By the sixth, Nadine and Zeke were joining them. In time with the seventh, Jaxon appeared, materialising from the northeast. And last, as the final strike faded, came Danica.

I pressed my back to the plinth, my willpower at breaking point. For almost three months, I had been strong, even if I had also been homesick. Now all I wanted to do was sprint to my strange family.

A hush blanketed Trafalgar Square. Antoinette Carter strode into that silence, coming from the direction of Embankment. She wore a frock cloak, heeled boots, and a brimmed hat. Between her fingers was a cigarette in a silver holder.

When I looked back at Nick, I thought I would burst – into tears, into laughter. Given his day job, he was disguised. I was surprised he had risked coming here at all. A dark wig covered his hair, and he wore tinted glasses. A few feet away, Jaxon was tapping his cane.

I had missed them all so much. It hurt like a kick to the stomach, to be so close and still unseen.

Eliza took a few steps towards Carter. Danica stuck to her side, her stance defensive. A scarf and bowler concealed most of her face.

There was no way she wanted to be here. Jaxon really was keen to impress.

Carter stopped by one of the fountains. I could hardly believe I was seeing her in the flesh. She hadn’t brought anyone else to the meeting.

Eliza made a small gesture – three fingertips to her forehead. It was the sign of the third eye, easy for voyants to decipher. When Carter returned it, Jaxon walked towards her, a welcoming smile on his lips. With a smile of her own, Carter grasped his gloved hand in both of hers.

Situla Mesarthim struck first. She had been hiding behind one of the great bronze lions in the square. Almost faster than I could register, she ran at Carter. Warden made towards Zeke, just as Carl sent a nearby spirit hurtling towards Eliza. She crumpled as it struck her dreamscape. As an art medium, muses loved her best, but any spirit could possess her.

Amelia seized her chance. She lunged out and aimed her air rifle at Eliza, only to be tackled by an enraged Nick. David took Jaxon – ortriedto take Jaxon, in any case (a bold move); Danica lamped him straight away, knocking a spurt of blood from his mouth. Tertius bore down on Nadine, who looked as if she had just seen a corpse rise from the grave. 18 and 26 closed in from the other side of the square.

Danica started trading blows with David, leaving Jaxon as the only one without an opponent to fight. I stepped out from behind the plinth.

Jaxon saw me at once, another masked enemy. He fused six ghosts into a spool and hurled it towards me; I deflected it and sent a flux dart at him, aiming above his head. Jaxon ducked it. Several of his boundlings came soaring from nearby, ready to defend their master.

This was it. I ran straight at him.

Jaxon was livid. Anyone else might have mistaken his pallor and wide eyes for evidence of terror, but I knew otherwise. We had spoiled his plans – plans he had laid for a very long time. Teeth bared, he swept towards me, wielding his cane. It was a weapon in disguise, heavy enough that it doubled up as a bludgeon. He could also pull a blade from inside. I had seen him use it many times, to shed blood and smash bone.

I had always been grateful that I was not the one on the receiving end.

He swung the cane at me. I rolled to avoid it. No sooner was I back on my feet than his fist clipped my cheekbone. If not for the mask, his silver knuckledusters would have broken it. Next, he drove them into my ribs, but my body armour took most of the force. I let him slug me again and again, barely even pretending to fight back. I needed him not just to see my aura, but to sense it, remember it.

When he stepped back, his gaze was hot with bloodlust. He wasn’t concentrating on the æther – not yet. Even a red aura couldn’t avert his fury. The cane whipped across my shin, and I stumbled, in agony. Its pommel caught my shoulder, my unprotected hip. I realised he might kill me before he recognised me.

The cane barely missed the top of my head. That terrible pulling sensation came, like seams ripping apart, and I hit out at him with my spirit. Now it was Jaxon who fell, floored by the thump against his dreamscape. I clawed myself upright, my cheek pounding, ribs aching. I gripped my knees, hauling air through my nose, unable to gasp.

If I did get away from the Rephs, Jaxon was going to be quite annoyed about this.

A screech caught my attention. Nadine had got away from Tertius and pinned Amelia to the fountain. Nick had taken over. He fired a revolver at Tertius. I watched, my head swimming. Tertius barely looked fazed.

Warden hadn’t been lying. Our weapons couldn’t hurt them.

Nick fired again. It took a moment to realise it was my revolver – the one I had left in the den, that night in March. The gun I carried on syndicate business.

He had kept a small piece of me with him.

Swallowing, I looked around for Warden. He was stalking after Zeke, who was doing his level best to dissuade him, making spool after spool.

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