‘There was a welfare worker, someone from the government, but she barely ever came. And, when she did, she didn’t care about what we had to say.’ Sophie starts walking again and I follow. ‘She knew that the Camden halfway house was being used as a black-market location, but she never reported it.’
‘Black market?’
‘There was a group of adults living on the top floor, selling class passes out of the bedrooms. There was a lot of drinking and fighting and …’ Sophie takes a deep breath. ‘It was run by a man, Finley, but he brought other people in, too. Men and women, all from different classes.’
We stop in the courtyard and Sophie leans back against the wall of the manor.
‘Nicolas and I worked the same shift at The Raven Inn and we … well, you know …’ She gives me a wide-eyed look and I nod, trying not to look surprised at the idea that Sophie had a boyfriend. She always used to insist that boys were a distraction she couldn’t indulge in until after the Examination.
‘He moved his things into my room and we set up a sort of camp in there, staying away from the third floor and only using the kitchen when everyone else was asleep. One night I woke up to see smoke coming under the door. The whole downstairs was on fire, and so was the staircase. We threw our blankets out the window so we could jump, but Finley and his men came into our room with boxes of stuff, class passes and dragonbone, to get it all out of the window safely. It must have been worth a lot because they wouldn’t let us near the window, wouldn’t let us out until they’d saved their merchandise. By that time, the flames had spread to our door so Nicolas pushed Finley out of the way and then—’ Sophie lets out a yelp and my blood runs cold. ‘Then they were fighting and Nicolas screamed at me to jump.’
Sophie’s breath comes in ragged sobs and I take her hand. ‘I thought he was right behind me. But, just after I hit the ground, there was this explosion.’ Her eyes stare past me into the trees. ‘When they pulled Nicolas out, his whole body was covered in burns. I took him to the hospital, but they didn’t have the right equipment or medication. None of the Third Class hospitals do. His injuries were so bad and …’
I close my eyes.
‘He died.’
‘Soph,’ I whisper. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’
‘I tried to go home after that.’ Sophie wipes her nose on her sleeve. ‘But the government wanted to relocate the survivors to another halfway house. They kept finding me. My mum tried to hide me, but that just got her in trouble. So I decided I didn’t want to be part of it any more.’
The words tumble out of her mouth as if she can’t stop them, and all I can do is listen in horror.
‘It’s not fair,’ she says hoarsely, ‘that Nicolas died when other hospitals – Second Class hospitals – had everything that could have saved him.’
I imagine Sophie in a Camden hospital, crying over the body of the boyfriend who died protecting her.
Protecting her from the placeIsent her to.
‘I went into Marylebone, to the greengrocer, the library, the park. Just like I used to,’ Sophie says. ‘I waited three hours for a Guardian to ask for my class pass and then arrest me. I told him I wouldn’t go to any halfway house and ripped my class pass up in front of him. It felt good, you know?’ She looks at me as if I might be able to understand what it felt like. ‘It felt good to show him, to show anyone, what I think of Wyvernmire’s stupid Class System.’ She spits out the last words. ‘In the end, they sent me to Granger’s Prison. Viv, are you all right?’
My eyes are full of tears. I nod silently as I let them fall. I can’t bring myself to look at her. I can’t even breathe. Sophie was demoted because of me. She was caught in that fire because of me. She could have died, and if she hadn’t beenthere in the first place then maybe Nicolas wouldn’t be––
‘Viv?’
The shame makes me want to curl into a ball and stop existing.
I’ve done so many terrible, unforgivable things. Sophie’s face softens. She raises a hand and wipes away my tears.
Stop!I want to scream.Stop being kind to me.
‘Come on,’ she says gently, taking my hand.
I let her lead me into the common room where the rest of the recruits are crowded round the radio, arguing about which way to turn the dial. Atlas is sitting on the window seat, whittling a piece of wood with a small knife. I avoid his gaze and slump into an armchair.
‘What’s wrong, Featherswallow?’ Katherine says. ‘You look like someone died.’
Someone did,I want to say as Sophie winces.So shut up and leave me alone.
The common room is furnished with old, worn furniture and ugly green curtains with pink flowers. A bookcase that holds some long-forgotten, pre-war children’s stories stands in a corner and the walls are bare expect for some of Marquis’s dragon sketches, which Katherine and Dodie insisted he give them tospruce things up.That explains why there’s a diagram titledDragon Abdominal Anatomystuck above the fireplace.
The recruits are the only ones ever in here. We work, eat and sleep together, barely seeing another human except for our category leaders and the Guardians on shift.
‘Have you seen Marquis?’ I ask Katherine.
She folds up the sheet of paper she’s holding, but notbefore I see the list of echolocation calls scribbled across it. ‘He’s with Karim.’ She smirks. ‘Again.’
It comes as no surprise to me that my cousin has found himself a boyfriend in the middle of a civil war. He is, after all, the biggest flirt I have ever known.
