‘He strangles me for waking him, then I get to be the bearer of bad news? I’m glad there’s a thick piece of glass between us!’ Nina reluctantly stepped forward. ‘All right. What the hell do I say?’

‘Tell him the truth,’ Macy suggested.

She smiled at her daughter. ‘Honey, I love you. You’re right; I should. Okay.’ She took a breath, then stood at Zan’s shoulder. ‘Let’s do it.’

She looked up at the Nephilim, who had realised she was now the focus of attention in the lab and was watching her intently. ‘Gadreel? My name is Nina Wilde.’ Zan began a simultaneous translation, speaking in the giant’s language into his headset. ‘I’m an archaeologist.’

No sooner had Zan tried to relay that than the computer brought up a warning. Flashing question marks appeared in the Nephilim text, though not the Mandarin; the machine was transcribing as well as translating both sides of the conversation. ‘I don’t know how to say that,’ he warned.

‘Okay, how to phrase it? I’m a . . . chronicler of the past?’ she offered. Zan made a hesitant attempt to translate. Both he and Nina were a little surprised when it seemed to succeed, Gadreel cocking his head, intrigued. He spoke in reply.

Zan translated. ‘Are you a priestess?’

‘Ah . . . no,’ she replied. ‘A . . . discoverer of how things used to be?’ The explanation sounded lame, childish, but it was the best she could improvise.

Again, though, Gadreel appeared to understand. ‘You have the red hair,’ Zan said for him as the giant indicated Nina’s locks. ‘Like a priestess. But you are like me. You seek understanding.’

‘That’s a good way to put it, yes.’

Gadreel’s eyes narrowed. ‘You were with me when I woke. My priestess is not here. Do you have the gift? Did you wake me?’

‘Yes.’

The answer surprised him. He looked at the key in its recess, then put a hand to his chin in a very human expression of thoughtfulness. A long pause, then he spoke again. ‘Where are my people?’

Nina did not answer at once, trying to think of a way to break the terrible truth gently – but that in itself was enough to make Gadreel’s face fall. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘You’re the only one we were able to get out.’

‘What happened to them?’

‘We found your fortress in the ice.’ The computer baulked at translating the last word, and Zan gave her a helpless shrug; it had clearly not appeared in the records found by the Chinese. ‘The, ah . . .’ Nina recalled a similar term used by the Veteres. ‘The cold sand?’

Understanding came to the giant’s face. ‘Cold sand?’ asked Hui.