Adamant (13 page)

“Ada.” And that was all he was getting out of me.

“You’re some kind of natural-born magic-wielder, aren’t you?”

I stared back, unable to hide my surprise. Of all the things to focus on, I hadn’t expected that.

“Is that such a strange question?”

I couldn’t read his expression at all. He was far better than I was at hiding what he was thinking. “Considering Earth’s so low-magic? Yes.”

“I don’t think you’re from Earth,” he said.

My blood ran cold, and I shifted back against the wall.

“I don’t think my life’s any of your business,” I said, and then cursed my own idiocy.

“You
are
from another world.”

“I didn’t think it mattered,” I said. “You’ve already arrested me.”

“On the contrary, it does matter. If you’re from offworld, then we would need to speak to a representative from your homeworld and refer to the relevant section of the treaty to ensure our disciplinary actions didn’t contradict any of your laws.”

“Are you a lawyer or something?” The offhand way he’d recited all that sounded like someone reading from a textbook.
I get it.
The sophisticated speech, the total assurance of authority, the way he’d chased me down, hadn’t hesitated for a second before zapping me with that Taser… this was an Academy graduate, all right. And I had reason enough to hate him already.

“No, I’m not. You probably need one, though. How did you come to be on Earth?”

I clamped my mouth shut and gave him my best Death Stare. He didn’t even blink. I guessed Alliance guards were used to hostility.

“Easy way or hard way, Ada. I doubt my boss will be as lenient as me, so the more questions you answer, the easier it’ll be on you.”

“All right!” I snapped. “I get it.”

“So, tell me where you live.”

“Cockfosters,” I snapped.

He raised an eyebrow. “It’d be nice if you took this seriously, Ada.”

“It is a real place.”

“I know that.”

“Then why not believe I lived there?” I hadn’t lied, though technically I lived just outside the area. It’d be worth it to wind up these Alliance guys, though. Because maturity was totally worth it at this point.

Kay took a step back, gaze darting to the door and then back at me. Maybe he thought I was trying to distract him so I could make a run for it. Not like that was happening while I was still chained up.

“All right. Who do you live with? Alone? With parents?”

I turned away, examining the opposite wall.

“Come on, Ada. There was at least one other person with you in the Passages, wasn’t there? You were coming back to Earth. So you’re based here. You sound like you were raised here in the UK, in London… but you’re not originally from Earth. You grew up here, I’d guess. Adopted?”

Damn those cutting eyes. I clenched my jaw, leaning back against the wall.

“I have to admit, I can’t figure out which world you’re from. Your hair’s dyed and you’re wearing contacts, aren’t you?”

I stilled, my heart plummeting. How could he tell? No one had ever questioned whether the pale blue of my contact lenses was my real eye colour. There was no reason for me to worry about it. But if the Alliance knew, if they made me take the lenses out—it was the biggest giveaway of my homeworld.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Which world are you from?”

“You still think I’m going to answer your questions?”

“I hope you will, yes. It’ll save a lot of time and paperwork.” Was that sarcasm now? What next? Sure, he’d said he wouldn’t hurt me, and he hadn’t tried to get me back for kicking him in the face… but that didn’t mean I’d trust him in a million years. Not bloody likely.

“Afraid you’re going to be disappointed,” I said, closing my eyes.

“I’m more than willing to wait.”

I opened my eyes again at the sound of footsteps. But he hadn’t come near me. He was pacing the room, door to wall. Back and forth. He’d pulled out his communicator, though I had no idea what he was doing with it. Surfing the Internet? What right did he have to walk in here like he owned the place? Academy graduates. They thought they owned everything.

“That’s really annoying,” I muttered.

“There’s not much in the way of entertainment in here, is there?” He glanced at the cuffs on my hands. “Hmm. I heard you attacked the nurse.”

What was he doing, guilt-tripping me?

“It was worth a try,” I said, shrugging. “The door was open.”

There was the slightest twitch in his jaw, almost amusement. “I don’t doubt the logic there. But you know you’d be out of here faster if you just answered my questions.” He paused. Slid the communicator back into his pocket. “Did you kill Mr Sebastian Clark?”

I inhaled sharply. “You what? You think I’m a killer?”

“I asked you if you murdered him.” His manner was more serious now. If that was possible.

“No.” I shook my head. “Never. I’ve never killed anyone.” I glared at him. “Bet
you
have.”

Kay blinked. “I fail to see how that’s relevant.”

He had a point. But I’d taken him by surprise. Maybe I could press my advantage. Talk my way out of here. But I had a feeling Kay Walker would be difficult to trick. He’d got the measure of me in about half a second. As for
him,
all I could see was that he was younger than I’d first thought. He couldn’t be one of the senior Alliance members. So why had he been sent to question me?

“For the record,” he said. “The Alliance doesn’t kill people. Not from Earth, anyway. You’re under our protection.”

“Yeah, that’s reassuring,” I muttered. “Almost makes up for being locked in here. How long am I stuck here?”

He frowned. “I have no idea. The murder complicates things. Ordinarily, we’d refer to the usual procedure for someone trespassing in the Passages. If that’s all you were doing.”

“Is it so hard to believe it was?” I said.

“Perhaps. You just decided to take a trip into the between-world? Looking for thrills, or a glimpse of another world?”

“You say that like it’s unusual. I bet loads of people have done it.”

“They have,” he said. “But there was a wyvern loose in there. Those things don’t wander in by accident.”

Oh, he knew the Passages all right. Did the Alliance’s guards ever get to have any fun in the between-world, or was it all routine patrols for them?

“I don’t know,” I said. “It was just there. It attacked…me.”

“And your friend.” I glared. “I saw,” he added. “Someone created a diversion, but at least one person was spotted fleeing the Passages. Was it you who pulled the trick with the firework?”

I clenched my teeth together, not responding.

“You know you’re going to have to answer these questions either way, right? If you’re not a killer, there’s no reason to keep you here indefinitely. The faster you cooperate, the faster you get out.”

Damn him for speaking sense.

“Okay. Fine. There were… two of us. It was all my idea. The wyvern wasn’t.”

“Did you see where it came from?” There was something other than detachment in his tone now, like he genuinely wanted to know.

“No idea. Appeared out of nowhere.” Well, it wasn’t like I’d had the chance to ask Skyla or Alber what had happened. At least they’d got away.

“I’m going to have to ask you to give me your friends’ names. And your full name, too. How old are you?”

Oh, he thought I was a minor. Fan-freaking-tastic. Blame my Enzar heritage for ensuring I continually got mistaken for a sixteen-year-old.

“I’m twenty-one,” I snapped.

He raised an eyebrow. That gesture was starting to get on my nerves. “You look younger.”

“Was that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Just stating a fact. Your name?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Well, it’d make it a tiny bit easier to file your report…”

“I don’t give a crap,” I said. “You think I’m going to turn my friends over to the likes of you?”

“If you’re as innocent as you say you are, then it shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “That was no normal firework,” he added. “It was magic. You shouldn’t be messing with that.”

“Wait, is this a safety lecture now? I thought it was supposed to be an interrogation.”

“Well, it would be helpful to know who taught you magic. Because they didn’t do a very good job teaching you the risks.”

Don’t even go there.
No one insulted Nell and got away with it. “What the hell do you know?” I snapped.

“Well, for one thing, what you were doing is not something an Earth native would know how to do. Not unless they had a connection to the Alliance, or training from an offworlder with an appropriate qualification.”

“Are you trying to talk me to death?” I said.

“Just making sure you’re aware of the facts. Magic is a force, not a toy you can throw around. You could have hurt yourself.”

I glared mutely at him. It had been so chaotic in there, I wasn’t sure what had caused the place to light up, but it sure as hell wasn’t me. He was trying to trick me into admitting how much I knew. Like I’d fall for that one.

He took out his communicator again, tapping the screen.

“Looks like our time’s up,” he said. “It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Ada.” The sarcasm made me blink. Had he been putting on the serious-questioner act the whole time? I really couldn’t tell.

He left without another word. Great. I tried to shift position, but it was impossible to get comfortable with my hands and ankles cuffed. I’d been stuck here for hours. When did they plan on taking these things off?

I jumped as the door slammed against the wall. What now?

A woman came into the room. She was probably around thirty-five or so, with her dark hair clipped to chin-length and an expression on her face that could freeze water.

“Ada Fletcher,” she said.

My blood turned cold. How did she know my last name? I hadn’t told Kay. She approached me, slowly, not staying near the door like Kay had. The hairs rose on my arms. This woman, I had reason to be afraid of.

“You have been accused of a serious crime,” she went on. “A colleague of mine was murdered two days ago. You were sighted trespassing at Central on that same night, and yesterday, you were caught in the Passages, which are strictly off-limits to anyone without a permit who is not an Alliance employee.”

I was kind of tempted to ask if
she
intended to talk me to death. But I clamped my mouth shut. Insulting this woman would not be a wise choice.

“You are not an Earth native,” she went on. “The deception was quite well done, but we checked this…” And she pulled my provisional driving license from her pocket. Crap. They’d taken my purse from my coat—and my phone, too. How could I have forgotten that?

She saw the understanding in my eyes. “This is a fake,” she said. “Along with all your birth documents, I don’t doubt.”

“You went through my things.” Stupid Ada. Way to state the obvious.

“Yes. We did. We have not yet managed to unlock your phone, but I’m sure it will tell us more.”

Not likely.
I felt a flicker of pride for Jeth’s tech skills. No one could get into that phone but me. Even the Alliance couldn’t crack it, apparently. And if they did, it was programmed to wipe itself clean. They wouldn’t be able to get my contact details, or any of my friends’.

Didn’t mean they had the right to take my freaking phone, though. It was the most expensive thing I owned.

“You have nothing to say to that?”

“When are you going to let me go? I didn’t kill anyone.”

“You have broken several laws, Ada Fletcher. These forgeries are a concern too…but a human on Earth with inherent magical ability—it’s unheard of.”

“So what, it’s illegal for me to exist?”

“I did not say that. In fact, if your innocence was proven, you could be valuable to the Alliance. But there is the matter of your origin world. We don’t want to run up against any problems.”

“Seems like you have plenty of problems on your hands,” I muttered.

She raised an eyebrow, as if to say, “Go on”.

“Well, you haven’t caught the killer. I’m innocent. Maybe it was the same person who set the wyvern loose in the Passages.”

“Wyverns,” she said, “are not native to the Passages. They’re from Cethrax, and only come into the Passages when lured there. And you also used magic in the Passages, Ada. Magic always leaves a trace. We might not be able to pinpoint the user, but it’s plain to see that it was not one of our stunners.”

The Tasers?

I could do no more than sit in silence, hardly daring to breathe.

She continued, “Kay told me that he believes you have an internal magical source. Having examined all the possessions you carried in the Passages, we’ve concluded that the source is not external. On Earth, the low levels of magic in the atmosphere make it a physical impossibility for a person to be born with that ability. The way the cuffs affected you wouldn’t have happened to an Earth-born magic-wielder, so the only explanation is that you were born offworld.”