Alex Verus Novels, Books 1-4 (9780698175952) (27 page)

On the opposite wall, ten paces away, was another door. It was ajar just a crack, and a sliver of light spilled through. It was swallowed quickly in the gloom, but that patch before the door was the only light in the darkness. The sense of something watching was stronger, but the door was right there in front of me.

I stepped forward, and—

T
he schoolyard was damp and cold, grey skies a reminder of the rain already fallen and a sign of more to come. Despite the damp a scattering of teenagers were in the yard,
boys bragging and laughing while girls looked on and giggled. One boy was standing apart, leaning against the wall, arms folded as he stared. He was in his midteens, with spiky black hair…and he was familiar, too familiar. Looking at him made me pause, confused. I knew him, but—

Then all of a sudden it clicked into place. I was looking at myself, eleven years ago. The boy leaning against the wall was me, and the building looming into the grey sky was my last school. With a rush the memory came back. I remembered this day.

Muffled footsteps on the concrete made my younger self look up. A man was approaching, an ordinary-looking man with an ordinary, forgettable face. The kind of man your eyes flick over without ever really noticing. “Hello Alex.”

“What do you want?” my younger self said.

“What do
you
want?”

“I want to be somewhere else instead of in a school I hate with a bunch of bastards like them.” The younger me jerked his head towards the children in the yard.

“Is that all?”

“It’s a start.”

“And then?” The man tilted his head slightly. “What if you could have anything at all? What do you
really
want?”

My younger self looked up in surprise. He’d been play-acting, not expecting to be taken seriously. “Okay,” he said, and I knew he was paying attention. “What I really want? I want to be so powerful that I don’t have to care about idiots like them. I want to be so far above them they can’t even touch me. Can you get me that?”

The man looked back at him and then suddenly smiled, an amused smile that didn’t touch his eyes. “Yes, I can.”

The younger Alex stared at him. “Who are you?”

“My name is Richard Drakh.” He kept smiling as he looked down. “But you can call me Master.”

—my foot sank into the carpet. I looked from side to side, confused. The room was empty, quiet. But I hadn’t imagined
it. That had been the day I’d met Richard for the first time, as real as when I’d been there. To one side, the fire burned; to the other, the chair sat empty. Cautiously, I took another step—

T
he living room was warm and still. Richard was sitting in an armchair by the fire, and around him four children made a semicircle. The two girls were on the sofa, side by side. Shireen had been braiding Rachel’s hair and now was watching with a frown, while Rachel was wide-eyed and curious. The younger me was in a smaller armchair to one side. It was only a few weeks after that first meeting with Richard and I looked much the same. I was sitting with my feet curled up underneath me, and the position gave me an oddly childlike look that was out of place with my sharp eyes. And leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the others, was Tobruk, the firelight catching his whimsical smile.

“The True Path is power,” Richard was saying. His voice was deep and magnetic, powerful; no one who heard him speak would ever think him ordinary again. All four of us were staring as though hypnotised, caught up in his words. “Power to build and power to destroy. You have your magic, but true power does not come merely from being born with the gift. True power comes from one place only: your inner self. Strength, determination, force of will: these are what distinguish a Dark mage, a True mage, from a dabbler. To be willing to rise higher or sink lower than your enemy, to know that no one is above you…that is the True Way. Your greatest enemies are fear and compassion. Both are weakness, and weakness is death.” Richard’s eyes swept slowly across the four of us: from Rachel to Shireen to Tobruk to me. “I do not expect all of you to succeed. Some will prove weak, in body or mind or will, and if you have a weakness I will find it. But those of you who earn the right to call yourself Dark mages, who become disciples of the True Way, will be power incarnate. Lessers will speak of you in
fear and envy. No one will be able to stand against you, and your words will be as the voice of God.”

The room was silent. Then Tobruk stirred. “When do we start?”

“Now.”

I
was back in the study. Looking around, I saw I’d taken only two steps across the floor. I was seeing my life as Richard’s apprentice, a step at a time. I didn’t know how long had passed, but I knew I needed to keep moving. I stepped forward again—

T
his time I was ready for the shift. I was looking at myself, Tobruk, Shireen, and Rachel, a few months later, back in the living room but without Richard this time, talking and planning. It was our first assignment and we were working together, but I didn’t listen to the voices this time; I made my body take another step forward.

The scene blurred and steadied. Now we were outside, the setting sun painting the red rocks of a sandstone canyon. “This was your idea,” Tobruk was saying, bored.

“But…” My face was uncertain, frowning. “We don’t need to do this.”

“So?”

My stomach twisted as I remembered what was about to happen. I didn’t want to watch this. Another step—

The living room with the four of us again, but this time the cooperation was gone. Tobruk and I were arguing, Shireen chipping in. Tobruk’s dark eyes flashed as he talked over me, and Rachel watched doubtfully, looking between us. The door opened, cutting us all off, and—

The visions came faster, blending into each other. Dissent and suspicion. Shireen and Rachel shifting step by step. Shireen angrier, Rachel desperate. My encounters with Lyle and the Council. Richard above it all, seemingly oblivious. Plots in the darkness. Deception, fear. Discovery.

And then, suddenly, everything was steady. A younger me, maybe a year older than the first time, was standing in a corridor of dry, cold stone. Next to me was a girl, thin and barely able to stand, leaning on me with bloodstains on her tattered clothes. Both of us were staring at Richard, who was standing just a little way ahead, Shireen, Rachel, and Tobruk behind. “You knew?” I was saying, and I sounded stunned.

“Oh, Alex,” Richard said. “Don’t confuse not knowing with not caring. I was willing to let you lie to me right up to the point where you disobeyed a direct order.”

I saw my younger self lick his lips. “You don’t need her. There’s a way—”

“It’s not about her. It’s about you.” Richard held out his hand and beckoned. “Give her to me.”

The girl looked from Richard to me, eyes wide in fright. I hesitated.

Richard sighed. “That, unfortunately, was your last chance.” He shook his head. “I warned you not all of you would make it. Tobruk?”

Tobruk stepped forward with a grin. “Hey, Alex. Guess you’re not top of the class any longer.” He snapped his fingers and black fire ignited, leaping forward—

I
came down with a gasp. I was back in the study, but I’d crossed the floor. The door was in front of me, within touching distance. One more step and I’d be through.

A voice spoke from my left. “Long time no see.”

I knew who it was before I looked. Tobruk was leaning back in Richard’s chair, his feet propped up on the desk. He looked exactly as he’d been when I’d last seen him, a good-looking teenager with dark skin and a mobile, mischievous face. His mouth was smiling, like always. His eyes weren’t.

“That’s not your seat,” I said at last.

Tobruk grinned. “Richard’s through that door. Don’t worry, you’ll find him. All you have to do is step through.”

I looked back for a second, then nodded. “Okay.” I started forward.

“Oh look, what have we got here?” Tobruk pulled his feet off the table and reached down to drag a girl up by her hair. It was Shireen. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing shallowly; cuts and scratches crisscrossed her face. Tobruk held her up long enough for me to see her, his fingers tangled in her hair, then tossed her forward to slump across the desk, her head hitting the wood with a
thunk
. “So what do you think I should do with her?”

I stood still. “What if I burn some of her fingers off?” Tobruk asked. He shook his head. “Nah, that’d be a waste. I think I should screw her first. She always was a good lay.”

“Stop it,” I said, my mouth dry.

Tobruk grinned. He settled back into his chair and spread his arms wide, inviting. “Make me.”

I wanted to dive for him. Instead I took a deep breath and fought the anger, controlling it. When I spoke at last, my voice was steady. “The only place I’m going is through this door.”

“You think I care?” Tobruk shrugged. “You’re coming back sooner or later. Matter of fact, I kind of want you to run into Richard again.” He grinned again. “Course, if you want to speed things up…”

I looked down at Shireen’s unconscious body. “What did she do to you?” I asked.

“
She
didn’t do anything.” The grin vanished from Tobruk’s face and he leant forward over the desk at me, his eyes suddenly filled with hate. “I was going to be Richard’s Chosen. Two years of clawing to be better than the rest of you, and all for what? So you could stab me in the back like a coward. My whole life was a waste because of you! My
whole life
!” Suddenly Tobruk flashed into flame, becoming a skeleton wreathed in dark fire. It lasted only a second, and then he was human again. Smoke curled from the chair. Where his hands had been splayed on the desk, charred handprints were burnt into the wood.