Page 184 of The Dark Mirror

‘We must deliberate on this,’ Mistry said. ‘Underqueen, we’d like to keep you in the Tullianum until we’ve discussed the events of this hearing. Erika, please make sure the Underqueen is comfortable.’ A sibyl nodded. ‘Jaxon, for the time being, you may not leave the Forum.’

Jaxon scoffed. ‘Do you really believe in these parlour tricks, Rohan?’

‘The Council is duty-bound to investigate any potential complicity with the Rephaim. You must understand that.’

‘Of course.’ Jaxon sat back. ‘After so many years of loyalty, I would hate for the Triumvirate to doubt my commitment now.’

‘Cade will be here soon. You’ll be grateful for a dreamwalker,’ I warned as the guards led me away. ‘You need my alliance with the Ranthen, President Sala. Don’t waste it on the Grand Overseer.’

‘So we’re all fucked,’ Maria concluded.

We did make a sorry picture. Terebell and Arcturus on one side of the jailhouse, me and Maria on the other, the bars dividing the humans from the Rephs. I had drunk some more alysoplasm, buying more time in the shadows, but removing my ability to escape.

‘So the Buzzersareyou. The plot thickens,’ Maria said to the Rephs. ‘How long have you known, Paige?’

‘I found out in Paris,’ I said.

‘You would never have worked alongside us, had you learned the truth sooner,’ Terebell said. ‘Do you imagine it pleases us to carry this potential in our bodies?’

‘No.’ Maria lounged against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other. ‘I do find it a little rich that you sneer at humans and wear those prim gloves of yours, all while you can rot from the inside.’ She glanced at me. ‘It was brave of you to show us those memories, Paige.’

‘Thanks.’

My wrist was killing me. I grimaced, cradling it between my fingers.

‘Paige,’ Arcturus said. ‘What happened to your wrist?’

‘You know how Jaxon looked as if he’d run his face straight into a wall?’

‘I see.’ He considered. ‘You should have used your stronger hand.’

Maria snorted.

‘You’re the one who specialises in hindsight.’ I kneaded the hollow at the base of my thumb. ‘Maria, where did Eliza go?’

‘She’s still weak from the ambush. I think the shock of seeing you and Nick alive was overwhelming, since Jaxon convinced her you’d died,’ Maria said. ‘Nick is looking after her.’

‘Did she say who attacked her?’

‘The Winter Queen, the last surviving member of the grey market,’ Maria said. (The one I hadn’t been able to find.) ‘She assembled a group of voyants with a grudge against the Mime Order, including some of the disgraced Nightingales. Taygeta managed to get Eliza away.’

‘She was the child from the Novembertide Rebellion,’ I said. ‘That’s why she came for Jax.’

Arcturus narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you certain, Paige?’

‘No, but I believe Jaxon, on this occasion. I don’t see why he’d lie about that. She was desperate enough to turn to him, but while we’re all debating in Italy, London is vulnerable. No one there has a right to the Rose Crown. If we stay much longer, we lose the capital.’

‘As soon as I am free of this cell, I will return,’ Terebell said. ‘Pleione and Errai will come for us. I summoned them.’

‘Fine, but even then,youdon’t have a right to the Rose Crown. The only people who do are me, Nick and Eliza,’ I said, ‘and Jaxon, thanks to the reservation clause. And we’re all here, hundreds of miles away.’

Just then, the door creaked open. A guard came in, and Maria was plucked from her cell, leaving me alone with the Rephs. Verca had probably convinced someone to let her out.

Arcturus caught my eye across the gap between our cells. I forced myself to meet and hold his gaze. He had skipped like a stone across the worst memories, but he must have glimpsed enough.

‘Paige,’ he said, ‘if you wish, I will take white aster. I do not know if its amnesic qualities will work on an oneiromancer, but I can try.’

‘No,’ I said softly. ‘I trust you with the memories.’

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