I did my best not to fidget in my seat while the others in the room whispered among themselves. Our arrival at Oxford was just in time, the veil delivering Piers and me to Femke's office where Danilo and Sunny sat talking with the European Council Leader.

Femke walked over to me and hugged me, though the wrinkling of her nose as she came close made me sigh. A burst of power cleared the air, though the stench of the sewer still clung to the ...