Page 20 of The Dark Mirror

‘Where is Command based?’

‘For safety reasons, I will not tell you the exact location, but our headquarters are in Italy. Maria is already going there. I could arrange for you to travel together.’

I exchanged a glance with Maria. The secret meeting she had mentioned.

‘That would be appreciated,’ Maria said. ‘I don’t want to misplace Flora again.’

‘Yousry will drive you. That’s why I asked him to join us.’ Radomír frowned. ‘On that note, I will call him. He should not be so late.’

He stood and headed back upstairs.

‘I worry about this meeting in Italy,’ Verca said. ‘Other than Radomír, no one from the Libuše Institute has ever been summoned to headquarters, to my knowledge.’

‘If they’re calling in a known arsonist like myself, things really must be desperate.’ Maria speared a fork into the last dumpling. ‘Don’t lose sleep over it, love. I’ll tell you everything.’

‘You can’t do that, zlato. Radomír has already been too generous, letting us stay together.’

I looked between them. ‘Are relationships not allowed in Domino?’

‘They are discouraged, in case of leaks. Whatever Command says to Maria, she will not be authorised to share it with anyone, even within Domino,’ Verca said. ‘Radek has been looking the other way, and we owe him for reuniting us. I would prefer not to abuse his trust.’

‘All right.’ Maria swallowed her mouthful. ‘I don’t like it, but I won’t say a word. We’ll be in good hands with Yousry,’ she added to me. ‘He was the one who brought me to Prague. It will be a long drive to Italy, but I’ll ask him to give us coffee breaks.’

I nodded. My gaze caught on a rack of wine bottles, then drifted to the crackling fireplace.

Part of me feared, before that night. That I was a fool for wanting to know you. The words sent a long shiver down my back.For seeing you in everything, everywhere I turned.

The exhaustion was tiding back. I drained my glass, willing it to drown his voice, to wash away those memories with the rest.

Command might have some idea what had happened to Arcturus. In a matter of days, most of sub-network Mannequin had disappeared. Ducos had been our supervisor. She would have tried to track us all down, and reported her findings to the people at the top.

I might learn where he was. Or I might learn something I didn’t want to know.

‘Good evening, friends.’

Nuray Erçetin had come to our table, bringing a steaming cup with her. She had an aura that could have belonged to a soothsayer or augur – but perhaps I needed to stop thinking that way, in rigid orders.On the Merits of Unnaturalnesshad been my benchmark for too long.

‘So you are the Underqueen,’ Nuray said, interest in her green eyes. ‘Maria speaks highly of you.’

‘Nuray is from Türkiye,’ Maria said, ‘but she moved to Bulgaria when she was twelve.’ Nuray sat at my side, flicking back her sleek hair. ‘Have you had a good day?’

‘It was fine. Rado has found a place for me to stay, so I went to see it.’ Nuray set her drink on a coaster and lifted a satchel on to her lap. ‘I also did the castings, as you asked.’

‘Share them.’

I watched Nuray take out a few lumps of metal. ‘What sort of clairvoyance do you have?’

‘I melt tin and pour it into cold water, and the æther twists it into shapes. Sometimes I see or feel things,’ Nuray said. ‘Since the fumes are poisonous, lead gives the best outcomes – you die a little with each casting – but I prefer to use tin.’

‘Cully has the same gift,’ Maria told me, referring to her mollisher. ‘A few days before you arrived, I asked Nuray to work out ifI would see you again, through the æther. She kept getting a shape that resembled a human skull.’

‘And you reunited with Paige in the Sedlec Ossuary.’ Verca chuckled. ‘Very good, Nuray.’

‘I’m glad that was the outcome,’ Nuray said. ‘I assumed it meant that you were dead, Underqueen.’

Now I remembered. Jaxon called her artmolybdomancy. Hot wax could be used in a similar way.

‘Maria also requested that I scry for information about this secret meeting with Command.’ Nuray showed us a knotted silver lump. ‘If the shape isn’t clear, I hold the casting up to the light and interpret the shadow.’ She used the candle to do this, and we all looked at the wall. ‘Here is what the æther gave me. A message for you, Maria.’

---