He shoved the idea away in horror. It was as far from Horizon’s ideals as the stars; he could hardly believe the thought had crossed his mind.
But it was an opportunity-he could not deny that. He would never have a chance like this again. Now-while she was sleeping. It wasn’t what Horizon had been about, but hadn’t that all changed? And he couldn’t trust Adelaide, she had told him that herself. Now she’d got what she wanted, what guarantee did he have that she would carry out her side of the bargain?
She almost let you get caught tonight. She could turn you in just because she feels like it. Sticking with her isn’t worth the risk.
For all you know, the skadi could be on their way over right now.
Eirik, Mikkeli-they would have thought about it. There was no doubt that to many in the west, the act would make Vikram a hero.
Stars, what was he thinking! And yet…
Go on, another part of him urged. Do it. It’s what they all want.
He pushed aside the rug. He could feel his knife sheath where it lay against his thigh. It could be done bloodily or it could be done with bare hands. For a more poetic justice, he could drown Adelaide Rechnov in her own bath.
That would be the best way. A clear signal to the City. Explicable, and understandable.
For a moment his own coldness froze him. And then he saw Mikkeli in her yellow hood. She came in through the window-wall and she walked across Adelaide Mystik’s floor and sat on the piano lid. She was still twelve.
“You’re not going to let that bitch get the better of you, are you?” she said. Foam dribbled from her lips. Her voice was as dead and as empty as surf.
You know it’s what they all want. And it’s so easy.
He sat up and walked silently through the study into the kitchen, closing each door behind him to block off her escape route. Moonlight fell across the white tablecloth and crystal glasses in the dining room. The outline of the next door was a grey line around its pale panels.
He stood looking at it. The only sounds he could identify were the thud of his heart and the drumming of his pulse in his ears. If he went through that door, he would be taking a step that could not be reversed.
The door opened. Adelaide came out, one hand rubbing her eyelids. When she saw him she stopped.
Their eyes met for a long time.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked.
“I need some water.”
He saw Eirik, in the tank, his mouth open. Perhaps she did too.
She said, “Do you want a glass?”
“Yes, please.”
She walked around the table. She passed within a few inches of him. He recognized the effort it must have cost her, because she had seen his face. He turned and followed her into the kitchen, watched her bare legs crossing the tiles. She opened the fridge door. The light flooded her slender body, crouching naked beneath the slip of lilac. She took out a jug and poured two glasses of chilled water. Face averted, she placed one on the sideboard for Vikram.
“Sleep well,” she said. She took her own glass of water and went back through the empty dining room and shut the door.
21 ADELAIDE
She slumped against the bedroom door. Her legs shook. Five minutes passed before she could stand, walk to the bedside cabinet, take out the gun, and go back to sit by the door.
He was going to kill me.
She kept the thought there, wrapped with her the way her fingers wrapped around the grip of the gun.
He was actually going to kill me.
And he’s still here, in my apartment, right now.
22 VIKRAM
Silently he opened the door that Adelaide had just shut. He knew that she would not hear him. He stood barefoot outside her bedroom. It was so quiet that on the other side he could hear her breathing, long and shaky.
Minutes passed. He stood there, motionless. He took out the knife. He turned it over, noticing the network of scars on his hands and forearms, old and recent, in places overlapping.
Adelaide, and people like her, had given him those scars. Whether she knew it or not, she was guilty.
He sensed the west behind him, urging him to revenge. It was a simple emotion. He could not deny that he wanted it. Gently, he closed his fingers around the door handle.
There was a tiny tremor in the metal, as though, sitting against the door, she was shivering.
He hesitated. It was the briefest flicker of concentration, but within that second he felt his resolution slip away.
Putting the knife back, he padded back through the apartment to the futon. He lay down and pulled the rug up to his neck. The soft fleece gathered at his throat like a noose.
He let out a long, muted sigh. His heart was beating wildly. He was covered in sweat. The relief that flooded his body only mirrored the horror at what he had almost done. The footsteps made to Adelaide’s door and back felt like those of a stranger.
“It was me who found you in the unremembered quarters, Vik. Nils dared you, remember? It was a stupid dare.”
Mikkeli was waiting for him, hunched over, her feet skimming the piano keys.
I’m sorry, he thought. I forgot.
It was true; Mikkeli had found him. She’d shone a torch on his face. Or maybe that was a different occasion. There were so many other times, anyway; lying on the edge of starvation, his body sabotaged by hypothermia. Time losing all logic whilst he waited for warmth.
Mikkeli climbed off the piano and stalked out of the window-wall, back to wherever she had come from. He remembered hugging her to him, trying to press some warmth to that lifeless body, but he’d had none to give, or she had taken it already.
Lying on Adelaide Mystik’s futon, staring at her ceiling mural, Vikram promised himself he was never going to be that cold again.
23 ADELAIDE
“So the first thing you have to understand is how the Council works.”
It was late morning. They sat on opposite sides of the table, the polished lake of wood between them. At one end, a pot of coral tea on a ceramic base steamed gently. Outside, heavy fog obscured the city entirely. The apartment felt like an oasis.
Adelaide’s eyes were sore with tiredness, but the day’s agenda was full. She had people to see. She tied back her hair as though she was preparing for hands-on work. The action focused her mind. If she was going to help Vikram, and for today at least, that illusion must be maintained, then she had to dive deep into the recesses of memory. She must recover incidental conversations between her parents, old lectures from Linus. She must listen once more to her grandfather’s calm unhurried voice.
