Alex Verus Novels, Books 1-4 (9780698175952) (29 page)

“Better.”

“How long would these bracelets take you?”

“Maybe five minutes each.”

Up ahead, Onyx turned and noticed us talking. He jerked his head. “Move.”

We came forward and in a moment were too close to say anything more. Onyx gestured and the air in front of us rippled. A black oval eight feet tall appeared, hovering just off the ground, soaking up the light from the sunset, then it cleared and through it I could see grass and trees.

“Good luck, all of you,” Morden called, and we turned to look. He had stayed behind on the veranda, and he was smiling at us, hands clasped behind his back. “I hope you make it back safely.”

I smiled back at Morden, my face as friendly as his.
No, you don’t
.

O
nyx took us by gateway to three more locations: a wood, a deserted quarry, and a dense forest. Gateways can be traced if you’re good enough and know what to look for; by gating to multiple locations you make it harder for anyone to backtrack to your point of origin. At each location we walked for five minutes before gating again. Cinder took the lead with Khazad on his heels, the two men forming a contrast, one heavy and lumbering, the other birdlike and quick. Rachel followed a little way behind, and I followed her a little farther still. Bringing up the rear came Onyx, his cold eyes on all of us. No one spoke.

Even though I was on the receiving end, I had to admit that Morden’s plan had a kind of twisted brilliance to it. The four of us had been his main competition for the fateweaver; he’d turned it around so that we were doing his work for him. He was sitting comfortably in his mansion, while we were going out to risk our necks. I’d almost admire the guy if he weren’t so freaking evil.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I became sure that Morden’s plan included the four of us meeting with unfortunate accidents along the way. Not only would our dead bodies tell no tales, they’d make perfect scapegoats to
present to the angry Council. When Morden had offered me a job as his intelligence officer and I’d accepted, I hadn’t been serious; I’d thought I’d been fooling him. I had the uneasy feeling now that
he’d
been the one fooling
me
.

Once we’d walked a short distance through the forest, Onyx stopped. “Wait.” He opened a gateway and stepped through, letting it close behind him.

That left me with Rachel and Cinder, neither of whom I particularly wanted to be alone with. I heard Cinder growl something and took the opportunity to slip away, putting a few clumps of trees between me and them. I couldn’t afford to get too far; if I wasn’t nearby when Onyx returned, he’d probably trigger my bracelet as a reminder. On the other hand, if I was quick—

I had only an instant’s warning. I darted left towards cover, but something grabbed my chest and slammed me up against a tree before I could reach it. A claw of flickering black energy pinned me to the trunk, holding me up on tiptoe, unable to move.

Khazad stepped up in front of me, and there was an evil light shining in his eyes. “Did you think I forgot?” he said softly. The claw tightened slightly, constricting my chest, and I grunted. “You know what I did to the last man who humiliated me like you did?”

“You kill me,” I managed to say, my voice stifled, “and Onyx kills you.”

Khazad stared at me for a long moment, then the black claw loosened and I drew in a ragged breath. “Of course, you’ve got the key,” Khazad said absently.

I opened my mouth to speak, and suddenly the claw tightened again, and I made a strangled sound as I lost the air in my lungs. Khazad leant in close, his dark eyes staring into mine. “But then, it doesn’t have to be you that uses it, does it?” Khazad whispered. “I could take it from your body. You tried to run and I was forced to kill you. I’m sure Onyx will understand.”

I was choking. My chest was crushed so that I couldn’t
breathe in, and my ribs were on the verge of breaking. “Can’t—open.”

“What’s that, Verus?” Khazad said with a smile. “I’m having trouble hearing.”

“Won’t work—for you.”

For a long moment Khazad stared at me, head tilted as if considering. Then suddenly he smiled. “I think you’re lying.” Spots were starting to swim in front of my eyes, and I could barely see Khazad as he leant in to breathe into my ear. “It’s a pity I can’t take my time.”

A cold voice spoke from one side. “Drop him.”

Khazad twisted to look back with a snarl. The voice spoke again. “Now.”

For a long moment Khazad hesitated, then drew abruptly back, the claw flickering into nothingness. I sank back against the tree, using it to stop myself from falling over, and looked up as I caught my breath.

Rachel was just a little distance away, and she was wearing her mask again. If I hadn’t known it was her, I wouldn’t have recognised her as the same woman; she stood straighter, colder, more menacing. Blue-green light hovered at her palm, pointed towards Khazad. Khazad snarled again. “He’s mine!”

“Try it if you like,” Rachel said calmly. “We’ve got time.”

For a moment the two of them stood there, Rachel with her arm outstretched, Khazad hunched and ready to spring. Then Khazad took a step back. He shot a vicious look at me and stalked away.

The light at Rachel’s palm winked out, and she walked to me. “Once we’re inside, you get rid of these,” she said, tapping her bracelet. Her voice was ordinary, as if she’d already forgotten about Khazad. “In exchange we keep you alive.”

I nodded slowly. “Agreed.”

Rachel was studying me, her head tilted. “You’ve seen her again,” she said in sudden interest.

“Um…”

“She comes more often when you’re here.” Rachel laughed suddenly. “You didn’t know that, did you?”

I met Rachel’s eyes. There was a curious distant look in them, and all of a sudden I was scared, really scared. I’d called Rachel crazy on top of Canary Wharf, and then forgotten about it once I’d recognised her in the mansion, but I’d been right. Rachel really was crazy. Not all the way, but far enough. Lots of people think
mad
means
funny
, but real madness isn’t funny—it’s terrifying. Looking into the spinning futures, I saw Rachel doing a hundred different things, and I had absolutely no way of knowing which she’d choose. “Rachel?” I said carefully. “Can you hear me?”

“That’s not my name anymore,” Rachel said absently, looking over my shoulder.

Rachel was standing just a few feet in front of me, eyes fixed attentively on something a little way past. If she struck from this distance, her beam would go right through me and the tree behind. I stood very still and didn’t make any sudden movements. “Deleo.”

Rachel suddenly turned back to me, her eyes alight. “Yes!” She smiled happily. “I had to do that. You see that, right?”

“Um, I think so.”

“I mean, it’s not like I could just
leave
!” Rachel laughed, then frowned. “But she won’t go away.” Her frown cleared. “She’s been quiet, though. It must be because of you.” She smiled. “She always liked you. She wouldn’t say it, but I knew. Why don’t you carry on?”

I had absolutely no idea what Rachel was talking about. I tried to think of what to say. “Ra—Deleo. Onyx is going to be back.”

“Onyx?” Rachel’s brow furrowed for a moment, then cleared again. “Oh, he doesn’t matter.” She smiled to herself again, then her eyes seemed to snap back into focus. “Make sure you’re ready to get rid of these.” She raised her right wrist with the bracelet. “We have to see her again, don’t we?”

An instant later Onyx emerged from the trees, and I slumped in relief. The fact that I was relieved at having
Onyx
 show up was scary in itself. He beckoned to me and Rachel, and we followed, Rachel smiling as if at some private joke.

So where the fuck are they?” Khazad demanded.

We were in London again, having returned to the city in the evening twilight. Right now we were above a tourist shop in Great Russell Street, in the living room and kitchen of a second-floor flat. The flat looked recently occupied and I tried to stop myself from thinking about what might have happened to the owners.

The flat’s windows faced north, overlooking the front courtyard of the British Museum, and we’d been standing by the windows watching the museum for over two hours. Night had long since fallen, and the sky was dark, the stars drowned out by the city’s glow. Buses, cars, and taxis buzzed past on the street, and a steady flow of shoppers and tourists filled the pavement, but the British Museum itself was silent. Not a single person had gone in or out.

“Why’s no one there?” Cinder rumbled.

Because it’s a trap
, I thought silently. Luna had delivered her message.

“Because it’s a trap.” Rachel said. She glared at Onyx.

I sighed inwardly. Freaking Council. Luna had given them everything they’d needed to lay a perfect ambush and they’d managed to screw it up. There should have been guards, people coming and going, the occasional mage keeping up a pretence. Instead they’d kept their entire guard force hidden inside the museum…and in the process made their ambush so obvious that they might as well have stuck up a warning sign. This is what happens when politicians get put in charge of battle plans.

“I said it’s a trap,” Rachel demanded when Onyx didn’t answer. She was focused again, staring at Onyx. Khazad and Cinder stayed silent. “Did you hear me?”

Onyx made a slight gesture with his fingers. Black energy wreathed the bracelet at Rachel’s wrist, and she jerked,
crashing to the floor as her legs spasmed and she lost her breath in a strangled gasp. Rachel looked up, her eyes wild with fury, and sea-green light gathered at her hands.

Onyx gestured again and black lightning smothered Rachel, discharging into her arm, her body, the floor. Rachel writhed, helpless, spasming, trying uselessly to escape. This time the bracelet kept going and the stink of ozone filled the room. Rachel had no breath to scream, and the only sound was the scrabble of her fingers against the carpet. After five long seconds, the lightning stopped. The room was quiet again, and Rachel lay flat in the sudden silence, motionless except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

Onyx turned to the rest of us and raised an eyebrow. I dropped my eyes and felt Cinder and Khazad do the same. After a moment Onyx turned back to the window. Rachel took another half minute or so to recover, then struggled to her feet, her breathing still shaky. No one spoke.

In case you’re wondering, nothing Onyx had just done was particularly unusual. Discipline amongst Dark mages is brutal; it has to be. A Dark leader who isn’t willing to hurt anyone who disrespects him doesn’t stay leader for long.

That didn’t change the fact that I wanted to get the hell away from this bunch of psychos as soon as I possibly could.

“Tell me what spells are up,” Onyx said.

I knew he was talking to me, and I considered lying before deciding against it. Any sign of deception now and I was done for. “The museum’s covered with a gate interdiction field,” I said. Cinder and Khazad were looking at me, and I tried not to let my voice show how nervous I was. “It’s bound to the lines of the building, and it’s strong. There’s”—I scanned—“one section unwarded in one of the basement rooms. About a ten-foot cube.”

“Sink,” Cinder rumbled.

I managed not to let my surprise show. The arrangement was a sink ward, like a magical whirlpool. Any attempts to gate into the area would be swept down into the centre, appearing in that ten-foot space. I was starting to think Cinder might be smarter than he looked.

“So we break through the walls,” Khazad said contemptuously.

“They’re warded too,” I said.

“And?”

Khazad was looking at me and there was a glitter in his eyes. Rachel finally straightened, and Khazad turned away as if he’d forgotten about me.

I wasn’t fooled. Khazad was still waiting for the chance to finish what he’d started in the forest. As long as I was useful, I knew Onyx would prevent any infighting. I also knew that as soon as I stopped being useful, Onyx would have me killed without a second thought.

I wasn’t intending to stick around long enough to give him the chance. I hadn’t been idle while we’d been waiting; I’d been path-walking, and the one bit of good news was that Luna was there, in the statue room at the back of the museum. All I needed was a few seconds’ distraction. I’d make a break for it, Luna would open the door, we’d lock it behind us, and Onyx and the Dark mages could fight it out with the Council to their hearts’ content.

At least, that was the plan.

Onyx stirred. “Close up.”

We obeyed, standing in a cluster. I found myself brushing shoulders with Cinder, who gave me a single glance and then pulled his own mask on. Khazad and Deleo were weaving spells, black and sea-green light glowing faintly about their hands. Onyx held out one hand, and the floor underneath us darkened and turned black as a horizontal gate began to form. I watched uneasily. If Onyx gated us into that sink, we’d appear under the guns of the Council guard force. I knew Onyx was strong, but—

Onyx tightened his hand into a fist and the gate formed, linking us to the museum. For one moment there was a lurch as the interdiction field tried to take, then Onyx’s spell ripped straight through it with sheer brute force. We dropped down to the floor with a thump—a white floor, with a staircase behind and a high ceiling above. We’d gated into the Great Court, right at the foot of the stairs.