Page 70 of No Man's Land

Josef followed his gaze, darting from face to face in the crowd. There was no mistaking his wariness. “I suppose The Society will be looking for us?”

“If not now, soon. Dutta could only have delayed his report until this morning. Come on,” he set off along Cromwell Road, “let’s walk.”

Falling in at his side, Josef said, “He’d really have shot you, wouldn’t he?”

“Yes. And he’d have expected me to do the same for him had the situation been reversed.”

Josef dug his hands deeper into the thin pockets of his coat. “Your lot don’t half love a noble sacrifice. I’d have thought the war would have knocked that out of you.”

He felt, rather than saw Alex look at him. “If by ‘my lot’ you mean the aristocracy, then I suspect the warwillhave knocked it out of us—or at least, some of us. But if you mean TheSociety, then no, the war won’t make a jot of difference. They’ve been at war for a thousand years.”

“They?” Josef said, catching his eye.

“We,” he corrected, although without much conviction.

“Lottie and Vi aren’t part of The Society, I take it.”

Alex’s mouth gave a wry twist. “Definitely not. The Society doesn’t tolerate dabbling in the occult. It has a very black-and-white perspective on these things.”

“But you don’t.”

After a pause, Alex said, “No, I was taught differently.” Then, changing the subject, he added, “What I need to do now is find the damned nest. Dutta and I were looking for it that night we ran into you in the sewer.”

Josef snorted. “You say that sentence as if it wasn’t completely mad.”

Catching his eye again, Alex smiled. “Oh, itiscompletely mad. I’m just used to this particular kind of madness, that’s all.” His humour faded. “I plan to start there, but there’s no need for you to put yourself in any kind of danger—”

“Oh, shut up,” Josef said. “We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

Alex frowned. “I didn’t realise seeking a cure would involve this much risk.Ihave nothing to lose, but you —”

“I have you to lose.”

His words drew them both to an abrupt halt next to the museum railings. Alex stared at him, wide-eyed. “You…Doyou?”

Irritated and embarrassed, not quite meeting his eye, Josef said, “Don’tI?”

“Well, yes. If that’s…” Alex stumbled. “I mean, if our friendship is something you’d like to…to continue?”

“Apparently, I would,” Josef said, lifting his chin defiantly only to find Alex watching him in smouldering delight. Josef’scheeks burned, despite the cold day, but he found himself smiling. “And that’s even madder than the rest of this bloody nonsense.”

Alex gave a short, startled laugh. “Yes,” he agreed. “By far the most improbable.”

Improbable didn’t even begin to cover it. “So,” Josef said, aware suddenly that they were standing on a street corner, grinning at each other like idiots, “do you have any idea where in the sewers this nest is?”

Alex shook his head, clearing his throat as he glanced around them. “Ah, no. We hadn’t had any luck until we came across you.”

Came across him fighting for his life.

“Because the ghoul foundme,” Josef said slowly. “I had Sykes’s photograph in my pocket.”

Their eyes met. “Do you have it still?”

Josef tapped his coat pocket. “Do we go back there? It was close to the surface, where the bomb had opened the sewer. I don’t suppose they’d lurk anywhere that easy to find.”

“No,” Alex agreed, “their nest will be somewhere hidden, preferably disused. Normally, you’d only find them in abandoned graveyards, or crypts. Places like that.”

“Normally?”

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