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Contents ( 50)
  1. CONTENTS
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. EPILOGUE
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. Also by Liz Flanagan:
  50. COPYRIGHT

‘Joe.’ Nestan’s voice was hoarse and low.

‘I’m here, Dad,’ he sniffed, wiping snot and tears on his jacket sleeve. ‘I won’t leave you.’ There was a flicker of a smile at the corner of Nestan’s mouth. Joe fumbled under the blanket, and found his father’s hand. It was cold, far too cold. ‘Can’t we go for a healer?’

‘Joe,’ Josi said softly. ‘I fear we are beyond that. I’m sorry.’ His mother shook her head. ‘And the island’s locked down. You wouldn’t make it back again.’

‘It won’t be long now,’ Matteo said quietly. ‘But I’ve given him herbs, for the pain.’

Joe made a space for himself next to his father, keeping hold of his hand, and lay down, as gently as he could.

‘Where’s your Ren? Is she safe?’ Nestan squeezed his fingers lightly.201

‘Yes,’ he said, with a hiccup that was half-laugh, half-sob. ‘Ren’s with Winter, in the tunnels. I came to take you down there so you’d be safe too.’

‘You did it, Joe,’ Nestan murmured. ‘Did it your way. Always different.’ There was something that might have been a laugh. ‘Always so proud of you.’

‘Oh, Dad,’ Joe could barely speak. He wished he’d done more to make him proud, while he could.

‘Your mother …’ Nestan couldn’t manage the whole sentence.

‘I know,’ Joe told him. ‘I will take care of her. Promise.’

‘Tarya … Isak …’

‘They know,’ Joe whispered. ‘They know you love them …’ He turned to the side so his tears didn’t drip onto his father’s face.

They spent the rest of the day like that, Joe and his mother lying either side of Nestan, Matteo keeping guard in the strange, quiet house. Joe took second watch, pacing by the door, listening to the sounds of violence in the lower city. When it was his turn to sleep, Joe lay down again next to his father and closed his eyes. He thought of Ren and hoped she would understand.

He woke to the sound of his mother weeping. Joe knew what it meant before he opened his eyes. He laid his head on his father’s chest, cold and motionless now. ‘I’m going to stop them,’ he vowed in a whisper. ‘I’ll stop the Brotherhood before they destroy the whole city.’

202

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

They buried Nestan in the garden, there at the end, by the olive trees, witnessed by just the three of them: Joe, his mother and Matteo the cook. With the city under curfew, they had no other choice. They sat by the freshly turned soil for a while in stunned silence. It was a clear day, the pale lemon sunshine almost warm on Joe’s skin. His hands were hot and sore from digging, and he brushed the sandy soil from his fingers. The sea in the distance twinkled light blue. He couldn’t believe his father wasn’t here to see it. Arcosi was silent, as if it joined them in mourning.