We would still need weapons. Even if we all snuck to the meadow by daylight, moving in small groups, the Rephaim would come after us. Besides, the entrance might be guarded. I reached for a sheathed knife and stowed it away in my backpack. Next I found a few guns. The palm pistol, a similar model to mine, would come in handy: it was small, easy to conceal, and I knew how to use it. I shifted some illegible paperwork from the top of a metal case. Nick had tried to shoot Warden in the citadel, to no avail. Bullets would work on loyal red-jackets, but we’d need more than guns to take down Rephs. I was reaching for a box of bullets when the sound of footsteps drifted to my ears.

Without pausing, I made for a set of shelves and slotted myself behind them. Just in time: the key fell from the lock, and two Rephs walked in.

I should have expected this. My exit was blocked. If I crawled to the window, I would have to expose myself, and everybody knew my face. I looked between the shelves.

Thuban.

He said something in Gloss. I leaned closer to my peephole, trying to identify his companion. That was when Terebell Sheratan stepped into my line of vision.

Neither of us moved. I couldn’t feel my heart. I waited for her to call Thuban, or to drive a blade into my gut. My fingers twitched toward the pollen, hidden in my gilet, but I thought better of it. Even if I took Terebell down, Thuban would disembowel me.

But Terebell surprised me. Instead of acknowledging me, she shifted her gaze toward the guns. “Amaurotic weaponry is intriguing,” she said. “No wonder they destroy each other so often.”

“Are we speaking the fell tongue now?”

“Gomeisa has told us to maintain our fluency in English. I see no harm in a little practice.”

Thuban snatched the crossbow from the wall. “If you wish to foul our tongues with it, very well. We can pay homage to the days when you had power over me. What a long, long time ago that was.” He ran his gloved fingers over the lathe. “The dreamer should have killed Jaxon Hall while she had the chance. It would have been kinder than the death he will have now.”

My throat closed. “I doubt he will be killed,” Terebell said. “Besides, Nashira’s interest is in Carter.”

“She will have to hold Situla back.”

“No doubt.” She ran her fingers over a blade. “Remind me: what was in this room before the armaments?”

“With your blasphemous interest in the fell world, I would have thought you would know exactly where all the resources were kept.”

“I think ‘blasphemous’ is a little melodramatic.”

“I do not.” He picked up a handful of throwing stars. “What was in here before, you ask? Medical supplies. Plant extracts. Salvia, aster. Other stinking leaves.”

“Where were they moved?”