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‘A few words only. Not much for us to say to each other these last months,’ said Cass.

A ripple of emotion passed through the group.

Mira felt it keenly, just as she felt her own elation, and relief, and despair. She should have been quicker with help. They were barely alive. And where was Trin Pellegrini?

Before she could ask Cass about the young Principe, the silence broke.

‘What’s happening out there?’ asked someone.

‘Have you come for us?’ Another ’esque.

Questions flew at her and voices rose to such a pitch that she could barely hear one from the other.

‘Quiet!’ Josef stepped in front of her, arms outstretched.

Surprisingly, they responded to his firm order.

‘Back up,’ he said to the first line of people.

They complied, creating room around Mira and Cass. Though Josef was much thinner than Mira remembered him, he looked strong and capable alongside the starved survivors.

‘Yes, we’ve come for you. And yes, we’ll tell you everything we know. But it’s only a short time until daylight,’ he said. ‘We will need to take cover.’

‘It’s too far back to the caves,’ said Cass Mulravey. ‘We’ll rest in the bushes above the beach.’

Jo-Jo nodded and looked to the lightening night sky. ‘Then we should get there now.’

As the group began to move back up the beach, Mira noticed a slight figure standing off to one side under the waning moonlight. ‘Djes?’ she called softly. ‘Djes?’

The young girl she had rescued from the ruins of Villa Fedor came towards her hesitantly.

As she got closer, Mira held out her hand to her, and suddenly Djes was in her arms as Cass Mulravey had been, clinging to her with relief and disbelief.

‘Mira.’

Djes’s body felt muscular and lean and tense with emotion, and she smelt of the sea. As Josef hustled them along, she threaded her arm through Mira’s and they walked together behind the rest.

‘Why did you leave so suddenly? Trin said that you’d deserted us but I didn’t want to think that.’

‘Trinder bends the truth, Djes,’ said Mira bluntly. ‘He told me to leave. When I refused, his carabinere forced me.’

‘Forced you? I don’t understand? But perhaps his decision was for the best? You’ve come back for us now.’

‘His decision was selfish. Djes, I have birthed a ’bino while I have been searching for help, a babe, born early, sired by Trin Pellegrini the night he sent me away. I was the last crown aristo alive. He feared that his bloodline would die out, so he raped me and forced me to leave. To protect his progeny.’

‘No!’ Djes pulled away from her. ‘That’s not true!’

Mira wished there was more time to explain gently, but she must leave again within a few hours. It was important that Djes knew the truth. ‘My baby is aboard Insignia, my biozoon. Her name is Nova.’

Djes stopped and took several steps away from Mira. Then she turned and ran down the beach.

Josef dropped back to speak with Mira. ‘Bad news?’

Mira sighed. ‘The truth. I’ve hurt her, but she must know what he is.’

‘Rast Randall told me some of it. I worked the rest out for myself. He’s Nova’s father.’

‘Her sire, not her father,’ Mira corrected.

Josef stopped her. ‘I will try speaking to Djes. I promised Bethany I would.’

Mira hesitated then nodded. She moved forward to catch up with the rest of the group.

As they reached the crest of the beach, the survivors halted and divided. In front of the stunted trees stood Rast Randall, her man Catchut and Trin Pellegrini.

The gratification Mira felt on seeing Randall alive diminished at the sight of the Principe. From his tense, wary expression, she knew he’d seen Djeserit leave.

Suddenly Mira wished that Josef had stayed with her. Wished she could reach for the comfort of his hand. But he was not. And this she had to face alone.

She stepped forward.

JO-JO RASTEROVICH

He caught up with her as she was about to dive into the sea.

‘Jess. Wait!’ Deliberately he used Bethany’s pronounciation of her name.

It stopped her short. ‘What do you want?’ She’d been crying, he thought.

Jo-Jo sank onto the wet sand above the waterline. ‘To talk. To tell you things. Please.’

She didn’t come