His gaze was on the sundials. Seven Dials was where seven streets came together, converging in a junction around the pillar – but it had only six sundial faces at its summit. Nick had told me that the district had originally been designed with six streets, hence the absence of a seventh face. Locals now thought of the pillar itself as the missing dial. I took in the blue faces and golden engravings.

‘I have a matter to discuss with you, Paige. An offer to make.’

The first half of what he said would have frightened me out of my wits, but offer was less threatening. Last I’d checked, you didn’t offer to fire someone.

‘As you have no doubt seen,’ Jaxon said, ‘Dr Nygård has been a great asset to me for the last eight years – but his work in Scion makes it difficult for him to commit as fully as I would like to the lifestyle of the Seven Seals. You’ve seen it now, darling. You know how demanding our work is. How dangerous.’ He tapped his cane against the pavement. ‘Eliza is a medium. Talented, yes, and hard-working, but not quite the calibre of voyant to become the heir and protégée of the White Binder.’

A frown pinched my brow.

‘After they proved themselves, I gave both Nick and Eliza one of these sundial faces. To mark their places in the Seven Seals.’

He swung his cane up to point at the sundial that faced the den, then traced a path between us, indicating the street we were standing in.

‘You see this, O my lovely? This is yours,’ he said. ‘This street, this path, is yours to walk. If you follow it, it will lead you into the labyrinth of London’s underworld, where you truly belong. All you need do is embrace the Pale Dreamer. Let her deep into your soul. Let her take away all the doubt, the solitude, the fear you store as Paige Mahoney, and turn it into riches. Let her draw out the gift that lies dormant within you. Do this,’ he said, ‘and you will make me a fine mollisher.’

Mollisher. Second-in-command. He couldn’t be making me this offer, not after so little time.

‘Mollisher,’ I finally said.

‘Correct.’

He was going to choose me over Eliza, who had been with him for almost exactly a year longer than I had. I couldn’t help but think of what Ognena Maria had told me.

‘It shouldn’t be me,’ I said quietly. ‘Eliza—’

‘—will understand, and respect my decision. My mollisher must be someone rare, someone singular. When you fought Sally Metyard, you proved yourself to be everything I hoped. I know you can do more, but we have years to perfect your technique. We have the rest of your life, if you make the commitment I ask.’

I hesitated.