Rory came in a little from the doorway, his free hand raised in a gesture of surrender.

‘Look, I’ve got a lot to explain. A lot has happened back at the Centre, but I’m here to help you, okay? You’re safe.’ Another figure came out of the cold beside him. Thea tensed. ‘It’s okay, this is Kyle. He’s with me; he’s helping me.’

Kyle had a bright red scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and very bleached-blond hair, as if he was auditioning for a part in an Eighties tribute band. He pulled down the scarf and gave a smile that hooked up the corners of his mouth in an almost convincing way. Thea moved the gun so it pointed at him.

Everyone stood there for a few moments, waiting for someone else to say or do something first.

‘So, we’ve got a lot to fill you in on.’ Snow fell in chunks from Rory’s boots. ‘Could we maybe come in? And could you maybe put the gun down now?’

Thea looked at Ethan. ‘Are you okay?’ she said quietly.

Ethan nodded, his eyes darkly shadowed and red-rimmed.

Her heart beating so fast it made her feel sick, she took a long look around the room and an even longer look at Rory who had one hand stretched out to her, dark hollows under eyes that she recognized – kind eyes. Rory, she reminded herself, the man she’d been having lunch with for weeks, who staged battles between the action figures on his computer and gave her contraband chocolate.

She finally lowered the gun, keeping hold of its comforting weightiness.

‘Okay then.’ Rory dropped his hand, warily eyeing Ethan. ‘Shall we close the door? Get started? Also …’ He glanced at Moses who he had gripped by the arm throughout this exchange. ‘Who is this?’

‘Basically. The shit hit the fan.’

Rory began to recount his tale after he had got over the shock of meeting the real Moses Ing. This mostly involved him becoming extremely wide-eyed and stuttering how much of an honour it was while Moses fell into a stupor once more. Moses reached out and twirled a bit of Rory’s beard, saying ‘shiny’ in a slurred voice, before sleep got him. Rory had looked as proud as if Moses had let him in on the code for Morpheus.

Thea watched Moses’s eyelids flutter. He was playing possum. If he’d stopped taking them when he was brought to the lighthouse, then the sedatives were pretty much out of his system now. He wasn’t asleep. She could have told Rory that, but Rory was with Kyle.

She studied Kyle. He let Rory talk but his eyes missed nothing, and she saw them range around the room, like an eagle searching for prey. She was glad she’d pocketed the sedatives and that they weren’t scattered on the floor as clues for his keen gaze to follow.