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“Please,” Jost says, more insistent. “I need to talk to you about your daughter.”
The door opens a fraction, but we can’t see the person behind the door. “Is she safe?”
“Yes. I can explain if you’ll open the door.”
“No!” the woman cries. “You mustn’t come in here. You have to take her away.”
“I will,” Jost promises. “But there’s something you should know. I’m Sebrina’s father. Her biological father. I’ve been looking for her for a long time.”
There’s a long pause before the woman responds. “The Guild told us she was an orphan.”
“They told me she was dead,” Jost says. “I wanted to—”
“I didn’t know!” The woman’s voice is a shriek and I can hear how hard she clings to control as illness ravages her body.
“I wanted to thank you,” Jost says, placing a hand on the door. “And I wanted you to know she’ll be safe with me.”
“There’s no safety left in Arras.” A choking sound accompanies the words.
“I’m taking her away from Arras. She’ll be safe. I promise you.”
I think of Amie, rewoven as Riya, and wonder who Jost’s daughter has become. “What’s her name now?”
Jost gives me a look that shows this never occurred to him before. But when the mother answers, it’s not what I expect. “We call her Sebrina. We were told that was her name.”
“It is,” Jost says. “It always will be.”
“Look after her.” The mother sounds calmer now, as though knowing Sebrina will be safe has given her enough peace to cope as she dies.
“Goodbye.” I leave the farewell lingering between us as Jost turns and takes his daughter from Erik. She doesn’t fight him. It’s as though she somehow knows he will care for her, even though she can’t remember him. Sometimes love survives everything, even the darkest hours.
TWENTY
ON DANTE’S ORDER, THE AGENDA MEMBERS LEFT at the Guild offices place the facility on lockdown as soon as we enter. As it’s a former Ministry complex, there are plenty of controls in place to ensure no one can get in or out without permission. But I can’t help feeling as though we’ve locked ourselves in a cage.
“Where’s Valery?” Jax asks as we enter the room.
Jost shoots him a warning look. Sebrina is in his arms, nearing sleep, but trying to keep her eyes open. I don’t blame her for wanting to see where she’s being taken.
“Do we have anything for her to eat?” Jost asks.
Jost refused to take the rations Sebrina’s adoptive father managed to bring home. He claimed they were unsafe. He might have been right, but I knew that he wanted to make sure Sebrina’s adoptive parents had food as well. Not one of us dared to tell him it was a pointless waste.
Jax manages to find some rations and the remains of a chocolate stash hidden in one of the ministers’ offices. Sebrina bites off the candy in huge chunks, sighing contentedly while the rest of us watch.
“I’m going to find her somewhere to sleep,” Jost tells us, gathering his daughter in his arms.
As I run my fingers along the glossy wood of the tabletop, I can’t help wondering about the important decisions officials made here. In Arras there are three more tables like this, all full of officials meeting to discuss the problems Arras faces. I wonder if I’m on the list today or if Cormac has managed to cover up my escape.
“Valery?” Jax prompts as soon as Jost leaves.
I shake my head. “We were attacked. She didn’t make it.”
“Attacked?”
“There’s something out there,” Erik whispers. “A disease or a virus.”
“A swarm,” I say, thinking of how it descended upon Valery, disappearing into her skin. “Valery sacrificed herself so we could escape. It works quickly. She was already infected before we could reach her.” Thinking back on the attack, I’m more certain than ever that we aren’t dealing with a natural phenomenon. The Guild is up to something.
