Page 10 of The Bone Season

My old bedroom was always warm. I had moved to Seven Dials as soon as I left school, but officially, I still lived here. Scion would surround the estate when they realised.

By now, they would be analysing my data pad. All denizens provided their fingerprints to Scion. I had surrendered mine when I was eight.

Beneath my blouse, my skin had gone from cold to feverish. All I could see were the bodies on the train. All that damage in one breath.

Jaxon had been waiting for this – the day my spirit became a weapon. Hands shaking, I switched on my second phone and dialled the number for a call box in Mayfair.

There was always a contact near that box, paid to keep an ear out for it. I let the phone ring four times – my personal signal – then hung up.

For several minutes, I waited for the underworld to do its work. At last, my phone vibrated. I had barely accepted the call before Jaxon was off:

‘There you are, light of my life. Have you reconsidered the holiday?’

‘Jaxon—’

‘Of course you have. My mollisher would never squander an entire weekend with an amaurotic, not when London is aquiver with fresh opportunities. Now, Jane Rochford is finally being auctioned tomorrow, and I need you to—’

‘I killed someone.’

A long silence. I heard a faint crackle before Jaxon spoke again.

‘Who?’

‘Underguards,’ I said. ‘It was a spot check. They tried to detain us, me and a seer.’

‘So you killed them.’

‘No. Just one.’

‘And the other?’

‘He’s … in his hadal zone.’

‘Wait.’ His voice softened. ‘You did it with your spirit?’

When I didn’t reply, he began to laugh. I could hear him clapping his hand on his desk.

‘Paige, you little thaumaturge,’ he erupted, ‘you did it. Didn’t I always say you could?’

‘Jax, I fuckingkilledsomeone—’

‘You certainly did. Magnificent work,’ Jaxon said, with relish. ‘You’ve bloomed like the rare flower you are, my wilful wunderkind.’ I pictured him in the gloom of the den, taking a celebratory puff of his cigar. ‘The second Underguard. He’s still alive?’

‘Yes.’ I sleeved the sweat from my brow. ‘I couldn’t do it.’

‘Well, never mind. He’ll only babble, in that state, if he can speak at all.’ He said it without a care in the world. ‘So my dreamwalker has finally entered – and emptied – a dreamscape. Did they have any idea what hit them?’

‘No.’ I paced the room. ‘They thought I was an oracle.’

‘Amateurs.’

Just then, a new message appeared on the screen, accompanied by the cool tones of Scarlett Burnish.

DUE TO PASSENGER ACTION, ALL PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN I-4 AND I-5 HAS BEEN SUSPENDED. UNDERGROUND STATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED. PLEASE STAND BY FOR FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS.

‘Jaxon,’ I whispered. ‘Did you hear that?’

‘Try not to panic, Paige. It’s unbecoming. Are you with your father?’

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