The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

Author:Samantha Shannon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408877869
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-11-02T17:51:25+00:00

13

The Ironmaster

Spinningfields Prison may have been cleverly designed, but it didn’t have half the staff it needed. I escorted Catrin out while the other guards’ backs were turned, delivering her into the custody of Maria and Tom, who were waiting near the entrance. They would ensure she didn’t seize her freedom without carrying out her side of the bargain. Catrin put on the coat Maria handed her and told them to take her to somewhere called the Barton Arcade. Eliza and I would follow in a different car.

I dropped my host outside the prison and returned to my own body.

I was getting better at this.

The Barton Arcade was a nineteenth-century structure on a main road, elegantly made from cast iron, white stone and glass, like an old-fashioned conservatory. At least, the stone might once have been white, and the glass might once have shone, had their beauty not been buried under decades of industrial filth. Several of the panes were cracked or defaced with graffiti, while dead wisteria climbed up one of its two domes, strangling its metal skeleton.

Catrin Attard was waiting for us beside the door, watched by Maria.

‘The famous Paige Mahoney.’ She sounded winded. ‘Not quite as menacing as you seem on the screens, are you?’

‘I’m on a tight schedule here, Attard,’ I said. ‘I’d appreciate it if we cut the bullshit.’

Most of her face was covered by a mask, but I heard the smirk when she said, ‘And who’s this?’

Eliza’s face was hard. ‘Her second-in-command.’

‘Ooh, fancy.’

She cocked her head, beckoning us into the hideout. The interior told me that this had once been a small retail gallery, presumably built for the overseers and anyone else with more than a few pennies in their pockets. Faded shopfronts promised fine perfumes and jewellery.

And a stranger was waiting, silhouetted against the moonlight that shone in through the roof.

‘Your friends told me you’re interested in Vigile help, so I thought I’d call a friend of my own.’ Catrin laid a hand on his back. ‘This is Major Arcana, my contact in the Night Vigilance Division.’

It was exactly what I’d wanted from her, but I found myself stiffening as he came closer. His mouth and nose, like mine, were hidden in a respirator.

‘Paige Mahoney.’ It distorted his voice. ‘An honour, truly.’

He extended a hand, which I cautiously shook. I could bear the idea of working with Vigiles if it moved us closer to Senshield, but old instincts weren’t easily quelled.

‘Tell me, Major,’ I said, ‘do you still hunt your own kind?’

‘Not any more. Cat persuaded me to desert,’ he said. His creased brow softened when their eyes met, reminding me uncomfortably of the way Cutmouth had looked at Hector. ‘And I had my reasons for joining the NVD. One was Roberta Attard. Under her, the Scuttlers won’t adapt to change. And we all know change is coming now.’

‘I wonder if you’d still be on the other side if machines weren’t coming for your job.’

‘Maybe I would. It gave me a full stomach and somewhere to sleep,’ he said evenly, ignoring Tom’s dark look.

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