The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

Author:Samantha Shannon [Shannon, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408865590
Google: uDrrDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2021-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

PART III

Eurydice

From the Greek εὐρύς (eurys, “wide”) + δίκη (dikē, “justice”)

17

Apollyon

For the next two days, I should have been training. Instead, I was stuck in bed on a drip, sleeping as much as I could. I was grateful for the fever, which kept my mind soft and loose even when I was conscious. It made it easier to not think of my assignment.

Arcturus made sure I had nothing to do but rest. He brought me small meals, administered my doses, sat close by and held my hand when the fever disconcerted me. Meanwhile, he and Ivy gave each other space. Now and again, I sensed their paths cross in the kitchen or the parlor, and I would hear brief exchanges, too low for me to quite make out.

By the day of our journey, my fever was down, though I still had a cough. I rose late in the afternoon and forced myself into the shower, but the knowledge of what I had to do was oozing through my pores and my hair, bedded deep under my nails, and no amount of scrubbing would remove it.

Knowledge is dangerous, Liss had told me once. Months after her death, I finally understood.

You are to eliminate the Scion official known as the Grand Overseer.

I dressed in a thick-knit sweater and the waterproof trousers I had worn to Calais. I leaned over the sink and trimmed my hair so it fell almost to my shoulders, the way I preferred it. I pulled on a pair of socks and buckled the holster for my revolver and stiletto. The slender blade was perfect for piercing a kidney or a heart. I checked my backpack, which contained food, a canteen of water, three doses of adrenaline, the stimulant Ducos had first given me, and a box of medicine with instructions from Cordier.

For the first time, I also decided to carry the silver pill. I slipped the vial into one of my trouser pockets and zipped it shut. Domino might have given me strict orders about how to kill Jaxon, but if it came to it, I would choose my own end.

Arcturus was leafing through the Daily Descendant in the kitchen. I headed straight for the fridge.

“Hi,” I said to him as I passed.

“Paige.”

We hadn’t spoken about the assignment. Each time I tried to come to terms with it, a ringing filled every crevice of my skull.

“How is your fever?” Arcturus asked as I took out a carton of milk.

“Down a bit.” I brushed the backs of my fingers across my cheek. Still too warm. “I’ll manage.”

“We could ask the perdues to postpone the journey.”

“It’s fine.”

I poured the milk into a pan and set it over the stove. While it heated up, I took my first dose of medicine in capsule form.

“I never did say how impressed I was,” I said.

“Hm?”

“That you made the link between the perdues and Versailles. I would never have realized the significance of the silver chandelier or the jewelery. You did.” I shot him a glance.

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