could see. He typed the name into a search engine, but when a million results came up he realised the futility of that action. He picked up a few of the stories, but they all said much the same as the one heâd read in the paper.
He pushed his chair back and flung himself on his bed. He sent a text to Felix, asking how theyâd got on with Perkins. A few minutes later his phone beeped. âNo developments,â it said.
Koptay . . . Maybe it was from Greek. Wasnât âhelicopterâ from Greek? Was it helios , the sun, and kopto ? What could kopto mean? He tried to remember, but couldnât.
Exhausted, Ivo extinguished the computer and, throwing off his clothes, sank into bed. Outside the roar of London, awake and frightened, ebbed and flowed; cars screeched round the square, foxes coughed, and rain spurted down; and after a long period of fluffing his pillow and rolling fruitlessly from one side of the bed to another, Ivo eventually fell asleep. Just after he did, he was briefly woken by the sound of the front door shutting, and Julius Luther-Ross left the house, climbing into a waiting car, and somebody else left the Moncrieffsâ house and got into the car with Julius.
A scraping noise, insistent and low, awoke Ivo. He hovered for a second, imprisoned on the wrong side of sleep, seeing fantastical shadows around him. The noise was coming from the pile of clothes on his chair. He considered briefly whether Juniper might be trapped underneath; then he thought maybe it was his phone, on silent, vibrating quietly. Thinking it might be his parents, calling as they often did at odd times of the day, he heaved himself out of bed and lumbered heavily over to the chair.
He saw what he thought was his phone glowing inside one of his pockets. Sleepily, he put his hand into the pocket and pulled it out. But his fingers didnât find the buttons. Shaking himself a little more awake, he held the object in front of him.
It was, he saw, the black stone which Blackwood had thrust into his hands. Frightened, he dropped it as if it were hot; and then, curious, he knelt, and gingerly reached out to touch it. He grasped hold of it, feeling it cold in his hands. It gave him no shock, so he lifted it up, and held it out in front of him. Where was the light coming from? he wondered.
He moved over to where the desk was, and cleared a space, placing the object carefully on the table top. He could make out three letters on its side, glowing faintly.
.
F I N
The light that the object emitted was extremely calming; it made him feel as if everything were safe and ordered. He picked it up and examined it. It was totally blank, apart from the three letters. He pushed and prodded it a bit; it made a low mechanical noise, and a long, thin blade extended from its end. Though he was taken aback, it seemed entirely right that a blade should come out of it in this way. Experimentally, he swung the blade around, as if it were a sparkler, and its glowing tip left a trail in the air. He wrote his name in light, and watched it vanish; and then he wrote the three letters on the side of the object.
In a crisp, clear way he realised that this was a message. Blackwood. Fin. He wondered what it could mean. He sat, suspended, for a moment, feeling so peaceful and at ease that he almost didnât want to move back to bed; but then the object stopped glowing, and the blade retracted; and Ivo was left, standing in his boxer shorts in the middle of his bedroom. He sat thoughtfully on the end of his bed, before climbing back under the duvet; he held the object to his chest, and then stayed, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling as outside cars growled and the rain battered his window.
.
Chapter Five
Jago threw down his newspaper on to the breakfast table. âI told you so,â he said abruptly to Ivo, who was drowsily eating a piece of toast. Jago put his hands behind his head and stretched. Ivo looked at the newspaper,
He pushed his chair back and flung himself on his bed. He sent a text to Felix, asking how theyâd got on with Perkins. A few minutes later his phone beeped. âNo developments,â it said.
Koptay . . . Maybe it was from Greek. Wasnât âhelicopterâ from Greek? Was it helios , the sun, and kopto ? What could kopto mean? He tried to remember, but couldnât.
Exhausted, Ivo extinguished the computer and, throwing off his clothes, sank into bed. Outside the roar of London, awake and frightened, ebbed and flowed; cars screeched round the square, foxes coughed, and rain spurted down; and after a long period of fluffing his pillow and rolling fruitlessly from one side of the bed to another, Ivo eventually fell asleep. Just after he did, he was briefly woken by the sound of the front door shutting, and Julius Luther-Ross left the house, climbing into a waiting car, and somebody else left the Moncrieffsâ house and got into the car with Julius.
A scraping noise, insistent and low, awoke Ivo. He hovered for a second, imprisoned on the wrong side of sleep, seeing fantastical shadows around him. The noise was coming from the pile of clothes on his chair. He considered briefly whether Juniper might be trapped underneath; then he thought maybe it was his phone, on silent, vibrating quietly. Thinking it might be his parents, calling as they often did at odd times of the day, he heaved himself out of bed and lumbered heavily over to the chair.
He saw what he thought was his phone glowing inside one of his pockets. Sleepily, he put his hand into the pocket and pulled it out. But his fingers didnât find the buttons. Shaking himself a little more awake, he held the object in front of him.
It was, he saw, the black stone which Blackwood had thrust into his hands. Frightened, he dropped it as if it were hot; and then, curious, he knelt, and gingerly reached out to touch it. He grasped hold of it, feeling it cold in his hands. It gave him no shock, so he lifted it up, and held it out in front of him. Where was the light coming from? he wondered.
He moved over to where the desk was, and cleared a space, placing the object carefully on the table top. He could make out three letters on its side, glowing faintly.
.
F I N
The light that the object emitted was extremely calming; it made him feel as if everything were safe and ordered. He picked it up and examined it. It was totally blank, apart from the three letters. He pushed and prodded it a bit; it made a low mechanical noise, and a long, thin blade extended from its end. Though he was taken aback, it seemed entirely right that a blade should come out of it in this way. Experimentally, he swung the blade around, as if it were a sparkler, and its glowing tip left a trail in the air. He wrote his name in light, and watched it vanish; and then he wrote the three letters on the side of the object.
In a crisp, clear way he realised that this was a message. Blackwood. Fin. He wondered what it could mean. He sat, suspended, for a moment, feeling so peaceful and at ease that he almost didnât want to move back to bed; but then the object stopped glowing, and the blade retracted; and Ivo was left, standing in his boxer shorts in the middle of his bedroom. He sat thoughtfully on the end of his bed, before climbing back under the duvet; he held the object to his chest, and then stayed, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling as outside cars growled and the rain battered his window.
.
Chapter Five
Jago threw down his newspaper on to the breakfast table. âI told you so,â he said abruptly to Ivo, who was drowsily eating a piece of toast. Jago put his hands behind his head and stretched. Ivo looked at the newspaper,
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