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‘You really must be addicted to losing, Scholar.’
They parted. Jess went into his room and closed the door. He needed a good place to hide the plans, and after some debate he took one of the original volumes he’d kept – illegal, of course, but most definitely safe from the Library’s eyes, which couldn’t be said for his Codex or journal. He used his knife to carefully cut a slit in the side of the thick leather cover, and pressed the paper into a thin square. That he skipped into the makeshift pouch. A little glue, and it was hidden. Invisible. He put it into his bag at the bottom. I need a hiding place. But not here, at Ptolemy House, where another crop of postulants would be making an appearance soon enough.
He was closing up his bag when there was a knock on his door. He opened it to see that the others were outside. Khalila silently hugged him, and he let out a breath and held on for a moment. No goodbyes.
‘We’re going to the same place,’ Glain said to him. ‘Walk, or share a carriage?’
‘Carriage,’ he said. ‘I have the feeling we’ll have plenty of exercise in the days to come.’
She gri
‘My luck keeps rolling true.’ But in truth, Jess was a little relieved. Glain would be close. He’d find a way to meet Dario and Khalila. They could all still hold on to their friendship, somehow.
‘Do you think there will be a memorial?’ Khalila asked. ‘For Thomas, I mean?’
‘Not that we’ll get to attend,’ Glain said. ‘We have duties now.’ She extended her hand to Dario and Khalila, and shook. ‘Hyd nes y byddwn yn cyfarfod eto. Until we meet again.’
‘O hasta que te vea primero,’ Dario said. ‘Unless I see you first.’
As farewells went, it was a good one.
Dario and Khalila took a carriage together to the Lighthouse, that ancient, still-functioning structure that spoke of the grace, beauty and determination of this ancient place. The beacon still shone from the top of it, guiding sailors safely home.
Jess and Glain took the next conveyance. As they sat together, Jess’s Codex buzzed. He opened it.
On an empty page, an invisible hand wrote, I miss you.
The message was gone a second later, as if he’d imagined it. Then it was replaced by more letters being drawn, in a hand he knew. Morgan was writing this as he was seeing it. How? How was it possible? Worse, who else could see it? The co
He took his stylus and scribbled as quickly as he could. Glain had given him a glance, but now she was staring out the window, absorbed in her own thoughts. Even so, he wrote too quickly to be neat about it. Is this secure?
Yes, she wrote back. No one else can see it. I’ve worked out how to do it. There won’t be a record. Are you all right?
He didn’t think he was, but he didn’t want to say it. I miss you. Thomas is dead.
I know, she wrote. Seeing her writing appear was eerily like being with her, face to face. I’m sorry. There was a short pause, and he was worried she was gone, but then more letters appeared.
Help me make it change, Jess.
He stared at those letters hard, hard enough that his head began to ache.
She had written, in those deceptively brief words, exactly what he believed. What Thomas had believed. What Wolfe had believed, and been destroyed for daring to try.
The message slowly disappeared, and nothing else followed. She was gone.
He closed the book.
She was right. Everything had to change. But he knew, as the carriage steamed towards the gates of the High Garda compound, that Thomas would be only the first of the cost they were going to pay for that progress.
SOUNDTRACK
As always, I like to include a list of what I listened to while writing this book … you might like these songs, too, and I think they represent certain aspects of Jess’s world very well. A little punk-folk, a little raw Celtic, a little steampunk … an unusual mix, even for me. I hope you enjoy the songs, and remember, support the artists by buying (and not just downloading) the music. Artists need support. And rent money.
Santiago – Loreena McKe
Come with Me Now – KONGOS
The Resistance – 2CELLOS
Beautiful Decline – Abney Park
No More Stones – Enter The Haggis
Bad Blood – Bastille
Letter Between a Little Boy & Himself as an Adult – Abney Park
The End of Days – Abney Park
Lanigan’s Ball – Fiddler’s Green
Scheherazade – Abney Park
Farewell to Decorum/Spa
Melancholy Man (Full Version) – The Moody Blues
The Engine Room – Runrig
Rise Up – Abney Park
I’m Shipping up to Boston – Dropkick Murphys
Not Silent – Abney Park
Rose Tattoo – Dropkick Murphys
Boondoggle – An Dochas
The Anthropophagist’s Club – Abney Park
Rose de Lay – The Killdares
Dolan’s 6AM – Beoga
And Dream of Sheep – Kate Bush
Waking the Witch – Kate Bush
Jig of Life – Kate Bush
Benedictus – 2CELLOS
Fierce – Rising Gael
Jealousy – Abney Park
Keep it in the Family – Hybrid
Scalliwag – Gaelic Storm
Things Could Be Worse – Abney Park
The Rocky Road to Dublin – The Tossers
Waiting for You – Abney Park
Balto – Enter The Haggis
Paella Grande – Wolfstone
Ancient World – Abney Park
Supermassive Black Hole (feat. Naya Rivera) – 2CELLOS
Tam Lin – Fiddler’s Green
The Story That Never Starts – Abney Park
The Boys and the Babies/Is Craig Here? – The Drovers
The Broken Pledge – The Drovers
The Oak & Holly Kings – The Dolmen
Elegy – Leaves’ Eyes
Mombassa – 2CELLOS
Oh, Well (feat. Elton John) – 2CELLOS
Davie’s Last Reel – Wolfstone
Cleveland Park – Wolfstone
Ne’er Do Wells – Audra Mae and The Almighty Sound
Wit’s End – Skerryvore
Take Me to Church – Hozier
To Be Alone – Hozier
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to my early readers, especially Carrie and Sarah, who made me dig so deep into Jess’s world.
Thanks to the audiences who sat through early readings when I was trying to capture ideas too big to put into my words.
Most of all, thanks to those who work daily to put words in the hands of those who crave them: librarians, teachers, booksellers and writers.
You don’t just make the world better.
You make the world.
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ALSO BY RACHEL CAINE
THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES SERIES
GLASS HOUSES
THE DEAD GIRLS’ DANCE
MIDNIGHT ALLEY
FEAST OF FOOLS
LORD OF MISRULE
CARPE CORPUS
FADE OUT
KISS OF DEATH