She strokes her fingers over the tattoo on my hand and looks at my neck and strokes that tattoo as well. But she doesn’t ask about them. And the silver in her eyes tumbles and catches the moonlight and more tears come into her eyes.

We sit together and still Mercury doesn’t come.

“I’ll help you, Annalise. But they think you’re a spy. They don’t trust you.”

“But you do?”

“Of course.” And I hold her; she’s so fragile and shaking. “I’ll speak to Mercury . . . convince her.”

Annalise nods.

“We have to wait for her here on the roof. You mustn’t step off the roof unless you are touching Mercury.”

“Or else?”

“Gabriel told me that you fall into a deathlike sleep.”

“Gabriel doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t like me.”

“You’re a White Witch, he’s a Black—”

“Pilot wouldn’t have me in her house.”

“Mercury is more . . . business-minded.”

Annalise nods. “I heard Pilot say that Clay is in Geneva.”

And with that a warm breeze blows over us.

I wait for Mercury to appear, but she doesn’t. I think she’s hinting that she wants to know more.

“Do you know anything about a special knife called the Fairborn?” I ask her. “I think Clay may have it.”

Annalise frowns. “Yes, I’ve heard my father talking about it with Kieran. It’s important, but I don’t know why. Different people take turns to look after it. Only those most trusted by the Council. My father had it for a time last year. My uncle has had it too, and Clay is also one of the ones who guard it.”

Annalise grips my hand; hers is damp now. “You’re not thinking of trying to get the knife, are you?” She turns to look at my face.

I shrug.

“It would be madness. There will be Hunters everywhere.”

“If someone was . . . invisible, say, and could sneak into Clay’s headquarters.”

Annalise shakes her head. “There will be trespass spells to protect the building.”

“Like the one on the roof here?”

“Yes, Clay will have a spell to protect the house. The spell won’t kill you; it will just make you incapable. Kieran told us a story about a fain who tried to break into a Hunter’s bunkhouse once and was found wandering around in a drunken stupor. They did things to him . . . laughed at him . . .”

“All the doors and windows will have the spell?”

“There will be one door that his Hunters use; that’s the only door that will be safe. If you use a different door or break in through a window, you’d be caught by the spell.”

The warm breeze kisses my cheek. I guess that Rose will be able to work this out.

“I’ve also heard Kieran telling Niall and Connor about other spells Hunters use. The entrance door, the one the Hunters use, will have a password spell. You say the password before you cross the threshold and the trespass spell is lifted for a short period of time. There may be different words to go in and out. I’m not really sure . . .”

The breeze has gone cold. Rose doesn’t know about these spells. Perhaps they will realize . . .

The breeze gets stronger and colder.

I stand as Mercury appears. She doesn’t look happy. The wind picks up more so that I’m pushed backward up the slope of the roof.

Annalise is on her knees, her hair blowing wildly.

“Annalise. What a charming child you are.” Mercury’s voice is cold. “Come, let us get better acquainted.”

Mercury stands on the grass near the roof and holds her hand out to Annalise. Annalise looks back at me and I try to move to her but the wind holds me back. Annalise rises and takes hold of Mercury’s fingers. But just as she steps off the roof another gust blows Annalise sideways. Her fingertips reach out but Annalise is not touching Mercury as the wind blows her on to the grass. And the wind is holding me back, holding me still, though I fight against it and I try to reach for Annalise, but it’s too late.

I can’t hear what Mercury says because I’m shouting and the wind is blasting in my ears. Annalise is lying on the ground; only her chest is moving, heaving, and her mouth is open and gasping for breath.

Mercury stands over Annalise, watching her. And I’m shouting and shouting.

And Annalise’s chest is not heaving now. She is completely still. Her eyes are open and I’m screaming at Mercury.

Mercury slides her hand down Annalise’s face, closing her eyes.

Annalise’s body is pale on the dark ground.

The wind is relentless, pummeling me as I scream curses at Mercury.

Mercury’s voice is part of the wind in my face. “You must warn Rose and Gabriel about the password spell. There is still time to help them.”

“What about Annalise?” I shout, pointing at her body.

“She’s asleep. Not dead. Return safely and I’ll wake her.”

She’s not dead. She’s not dead. Gabriel said it was a deathlike sleep.

“If she dies, Mercury . . .”

“Enough of this. Go.”

The Fairborn

Mercury has been as businesslike as ever. She has drawn a map to show me how to find Clay’s house. I’ve heard all the plans, so I know that the house is an hour’s walk from the apartment. I run it in just over twenty minutes. Assuming Rose and Gabriel didn’t dawdle, they’re over an hour ahead of me but they should still be watching the house, waiting for it to go quiet.

I have to concentrate on them, because if I don’t, all I see is Annalise’s body lying on the grass. She looked dead; her chest was still, her eyes were open.

I’m nearly there. I’ve got to concentrate.

The house is in a quiet suburb on a back road with large houses sitting in their own spacious gardens. Behind is a wooded hillside. I scout out the roads round the house and through the woods at the back.

There’s someone at the edge of the woods. His back is to me. He’s watching the house.

And all the training I did with Celia comes back to me. It’s easy, second nature, the way reading is to Gabriel. I tread slow and quiet, taking my knife in my hand. The figure begins to turn as I take my final step and grab his body, the blade at his throat. Poetry in motion.

Gabriel’s body is stiff against mine. I keep the knife pressed against his skin.

“Not good enough,” I hiss in his ear.

“Nathan? What are you doing here?”

“Where’s Rose?”

“Watching the front. What’s going on?”

“Mercury sent me. I need to tell Rose something about the spells on the house. Something useful that Annalise told me.”

He doesn’t reply, so I release him and push him away from me.

“What did she say?”

I tell him and he nods. “Let’s tell Rose then.”

We work our way around to the front of the house. It’s still early, before midnight. Rose is in the garden of a house across the road. She doesn’t giggle as I explain the situation, but she doesn’t want to give up either. She thinks she can work it. All the Hunters enter and leave through the front door. She’ll shadow the next Hunter to arrive and listen for the password.

Now I’m at the back of the house again, leaning against a tree on the edge of the woods. There’s no fence, but there is a lawn that stops just before the trees.

Rose and Gabriel are round the front.

The house is divided into two apartments: the upper one on the first and second floors is occupied by several Hunters; the lower one by Clay. From what I can make out, Clay has an office and a bedroom at the back. I can see several Hunters moving around in their apartment; if they are going in and out they’re not using the back door or the windows for that matter.

The weather is warm but overcast, and a fine drizzle has started to fall.

I asked Rose what to do if something goes wrong.

She smiled. “Escape if you can. Run. If you can’t run, kill as many as you can. They killed your ancestors and they will do everything to kill you, Nathan. Kill them all.” She kissed my cheek and said sweetly, “When you’ve killed them all, then you won’t need to run any more.”