‘Were you serious?’ he asked. ‘Would you do anything?’

There was a mania in his eyes that frightened me, and I didn’t reply. I was too busy thinking about who I could call for help. Security? Dr Abiola?

He lifted a flight case onto the desk. It was a perfect cube made of brushed aluminium. He unhooked two clasps that sealed it.

‘I need to be sure,’ he said. ‘Were you serious?’

I felt I had to humour him. ‘You know how much I loved Beth.’

He nodded and opened the lid. Inside, black laser-cut foam protected three spheres. Each of them was approximately two inches in diameter and they were filled with sparkles of light that reminded me of stars. They swirled, moving like constellations in the night sky.

‘What are they?’

Ben pocketed two and grabbed the third, before approaching me.

‘Whatever happens, you must do exactly as I say,’ he told me.

‘Ben, I don’t want—’ I began, but shock knocked the breath from my lungs.

Ben squeezed the sphere until it shattered. The stars spread over his hand, covering it, before multiplying and sweeping down his arm. The first stars unfolded to form hexagons of light that connected to create a mesh. I tried to back away, but he grabbed my wrist and held me tight.

‘Ben,’ I cried. ‘Please.’

‘Exactly what I say,’ he repeated as the stars spread across his torso.

I tried to free myself but he held me like a vice and I watched in horror as the stars travelled up my arm, covering me. The process accelerated, and I knew I didn’t have long. When Ben was covered, there was a surge of energy that illuminated the mesh, and he vanished. What was this? Why was he doing this? Was it murder? Was he killing us? I looked at the wisps of ethereal smoke that were all that was left of Ben, and felt nothing but hatred for him.

And then I, too, was gone.

Chapter 52

Everything was black as though I was in the deepest, darkest night, and for a moment I thought oblivion had taken me, but then I realized I was still breathing. I pressed my fingers into my palm and felt my digits and hands were where they should be.

‘Give me a second,’ Ben said.

I heard shuffling and then a click, and I was dazzled by a bright light.

My eyes adjusted. Ben stood in the same clothes he’d been wearing, black trousers and a navy blue sweater, but rather than his office, behind him loomed high steel shelving that supported bottles of bleach, soap, and other cleaning products.

I grabbed him by the collar. ‘Where are we? What just happened?’ I asked.

‘Come on,’ he said, cutting me off. ‘We don’t have much time.’

He opened the door to what turned out to be a cleaning supplies cupboard, and we went into the corridor beyond. I followed warily, but the moment I stepped out, I was unnerved by the familiarity of the place. The corridor was eight feet wide with a dark-grey linoleum floor, grey walls to the halfway point, a black rubber dividing bumper and white uppers and ceiling.