Page 100 of The Dark Mirror

Terebell asked us to leave after that. Arcturus had done his part. Regardless of what Errai and Lesath believed, she knew as well as I did that he needed rest. I walked out with Nick and Maria, but soon found myself striding into the downpour, my only thought to get back to my room.

Nick reached me first. He almost took hold of my arm, stopping himself when I tensed.

‘Paige,’ he said. ‘Please, wait a moment.’

‘Just leave it,’ I said thickly. ‘I need to be alone, Nick.’

‘I respect that, but let us get you back to Domino first. I can’t let you end up somewhere you don’t want to be.’ When I slowed down, he released his breath. ‘Thank you.’

Rain was beading on my lashes, my nose. For once, I was too numb to feel it. While I stood unmoving, Nick opened his umbrella, right as Maria caught up. Seeing my face, hers softened.

‘Oh, sweet.’

Nick laid a gentle hand between my shoulders. I let it rest there as I trembled. ‘They did torture him.’ I could barely get the words out. ‘I knew it, I knew they would, but I hoped—’

My voice cracked away.

‘I’ll call Noemi,’ Maria murmured to Nick. ‘She can take us back.’

‘No. I want to go for a walk,’ I forced out. ‘Please, both of you. I can handle myself.’

‘You can handle yourself in Scion. I’m not leaving you in a city you don’t know. Not like this,’ Nick said. ‘Paige, reverse our situations. Would you leave me in this state?’

I looked up. When I saw the concern on both their faces, I had to shake my head. Nick held me to his side, and Maria linked his other arm, so we could all fit under the umbrella.

They guided me back to Cannaregio. Before long, I was cold in my jacket, glad I had them at my side, and grateful that I hadn’t run off on my own into the maze, even if I still wanted to be alone. When we reached the foyer of the Palazzo della Notte, Nick turned to me.

‘We’ll give you space now,’ he said, ‘but will you come and see me for that check-up tomorrow?’

‘Yes.’

‘All right. I’ll be in the medical room until noon.’

‘Sleep well,’ Maria said, her forehead crinkling. ‘Let us know if you want to talk.’

With a stiff nod, I went up the grand staircase. In my bathroom, I gripped the edges of the sink, tears running down my face again.

I went over every word Arcturus had said. Each time he had met or avoided my gaze. He hadn’t ignored me, but hewastying off the cord. I didn’t know what that meant, and I couldn’t find out without talking to him.

Something had changed in him since Paris. Even from a brief reunion, I could see it. He had already been tortured in Oxford. I couldn’t imagine returning to my dark room a second time.

When I thought of Cade, my grip tightened.

Another dreamwalker. Jaxon had always thought I was the only one.

I had been naïve to believe his flattery. Now a dangerous opponent had reared his head, and I was unprepared. Cade was stronger, he was ruthless, and he was on the other side.

He must have been laughing behind my back when my gift was discovered in Oxford. I had tried my best to conceal my abilities, but Nashira had baited them out of me, while Cade had maintained his self-control, passing both tests without revealing his skills in possession. Whoever he was and whatever he was doing, he knew how to play a very long game.

I had never fully trusted him – not in Oxford, nor in Paris. He had unnerved me enough that I had shut him out of our plans for the rebellion. Yet later, I had flung that caution to the wind, allowing myself to be hauled into the Hôtel Garuche on nothing but his word that he could get me out. Now I saw the madness of that choice, and why it had shaken Arcturus. I had put myself at the mercy of a stranger.

I thought back to the masquerade – my last memory, blurred at the edges. Cade had danced with me as if nothing was wrong, days after shattering my life with his deception.

Dreamwalking was a beautiful name for a brutal ability. It could render a person helpless in their own body. Cade had killed someone while inhabiting the Norwegian politician, Helen Githmark. Now she would be sentenced to life for a crime she would not remember committing. A crime he had committed in her skin.

If Cade had no limits, no moral compass, then he might be the single greatest threat the rebellion had ever faced, more dangerous than Ménard or Vance.

And I might be the only one in the world who could stop him.

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