Fated: An Alex Verus Novel (22 page)

Talisid sighed. ‘Let’s stop fencing, Verus. We want to stop any ambitious individuals taking the fateweaver for themselves. If you can retrieve it and deliver it to the Council, that’s fine. If you can’t retrieve it, that’s fine too. Mostly, we’d like to resolve this with as few people killed as possible. Are you interested, or not?’

I was silent for a long time. ‘All right,’ I said. ‘I’m not promising anything, but I’ll meet you to talk things over. Six o’clock at Centre Point?’

‘That’ll be fine. See you then.’ Talisid hung up.

Talisid’s call had broken my concentration. I turned back to the statue and started to slip back into my trance, then shook my head and stopped. This wasn’t working. If there was any remotely possible way I could activate this thing, I would have found it by now. I hadn’t, and that meant that with what I had here, it wasn’t possible.

I looked at the statue. Abithriax’s stone eyes stared back at me. The longer I looked at him, the more expression I seemed to notice in his face. He
did
look like a general – confident, as if he already knew he was going to win. I wondered if he’d been wearing that same expression when he died.

I remembered what Sonder had told me. The mages who’d built this thing had known what they were doing; tricking it wasn’t going to work. Maybe I was going about this the wrong way. Instead of trying to work it out by myself, I should take my cue from the people who knew more than I did. Levistus obviously thought I had a good chance of opening this door, or he wouldn’t have revealed so much, but he didn’t know for sure. Deleo, Cinder and Khazad had made their own attempt on Friday night using a fake key, but it hadn’t worked. Then what?

Then they’d gone after Luna.

Luna …

And suddenly I got it. Maybe you’ve already guessed by now, and you’re sitting there wondering how I could take so long to figure it out. If you are, all I can say is that it’s a hell of a lot harder to step back and look at the big picture when you have to keep watching your feet for landmines. The relic key was Luna’s red crystal cube. And since Luna was the cube’s mistress, she’d have to be the one to place the cube in the statue’s hand.

It all fit. That was why Cinder had been willing to kill me when he’d come searching for me on Friday. He and Deleo hadn’t been able to find the cube so he’d intended to use my divination magic as a backup, never knowing that the cube was lying on the ground right in front of him. Khazad hadn’t known about the cube either and so he’d come after me, intending to press-gang me into service or kill me so that I wouldn’t help anyone else. After the failed break-in, Deleo and Khazad had followed the cube’s trail to Luna and tried to hunt her down in Camden, and when
that
had failed, all three had tracked her to the ball last night. I remembered Deleo’s words to Luna:
‘You have something that belongs to me’
. They’d known Luna had been the one to take the cube … but they
didn’t
know that Luna had to be the one to open it or they’d have just snatched her without asking questions. And that meant that right now, I was the only person who knew the secret to opening this door.

For a moment I felt a rush of excitement. But then, as I made the connection, my heart went cold. They knew the cube was the way in, and they thought Luna had the cube. They’d be doubling their efforts to find her. ‘I have to go,’ I said, and started moving. Sonder said something, but I wasn’t listening any more.

I passed Griff at the restaurant talking with another mage. He frowned, then followed me, catching me up as I hurried down the stairs. ‘Well?’

‘I need something from home,’ I said.

‘What, right now?’

‘Right now.’

Griff looked irritated, and was about to argue, then stopped. ‘Fine. Just hurry up.’

As I left the museum, I was already working on plans. The annuller effect should keep Luna safe from magical detection, at least for now. But Deleo and Cinder had seen us by the arch so they’d know that too. I walked along the street, ticking off other possibilities. A really powerful spell could theoretically find Luna even through the annuller. Unlikely, but possible. A more serious threat would be if they switched away from using magic. There are plenty of mundane ways to find someone. Would Deleo be the type to think of that?

I reached a corner. A black cab was passing and I hailed it and jumped in. ‘Cla—’ I started, then changed my mind. ‘Camden.’ I’d need to get equipped first. The driver nodded and pulled away.

As the driver wound his way northwards through the London streets, I pulled out my phone and dialled Luna’s number. The first call rang and rang before going to a dial tone. I swore, hung up and tried again. The taxi turned into Royal College Street; we were only a few minutes away from my home. I could tell that there was a chance of Luna picking up and I focused on the futures of her speaking to me, ignoring everything else, and so when the attack came I was caught completely by surprise. There was a surge of fire magic, a double
bang
as two tyres burst, and the taxi slewed left and hit a parked car at thirty miles an hour.

The next thing I remember is lying across the back seat at an awkward angle, my head spinning. There was blood in my mouth and my eyes felt fuzzy. I struggled to a sitting position to see the driver slumped over his steering wheel. My phone was gone somewhere, I could hear a hissing noise, and through the cracked windows I could see white
smoke. Shaking my head, I leaned clumsily towards one of the doors, trying to get it open.

Before my fingers could find the handle, the door was yanked open from the other side. A pair of big hands reached in, grabbed me by my shirt, and dragged me out. I could hear voices and shouting in the distance, but all I could see through the smoke was the oval shimmer of a gate. Someone snapped out an order, and I was shoved towards the gate and through.

I came down on concrete with a painful thump. Twisting around, I saw other people following me through the gate. Three people. The gate shimmered and vanished, and I could see we were in some sort of warehouse. The man with the big hands bent down and hauled me to my feet again and, as my head cleared, I found myself staring into Cinder’s face.

‘Not so smart now, you bastard,’ Cinder growled.

I remember reading a book where some pretentious writer claimed there’s no moment of enlightenment more terrible than when you realise your parents are simple human beings. Personally, if you’ve grown up listening to your parents having screaming matches, realising that they’re simple human beings isn’t much of a revelation. In my opinion, the most terrible moment of enlightenment is the one where you realise you’re outflanked, outgunned and a sitting duck. It’s a horrible sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach that can very easily be the last feeling you’ll ever have.

The room we were in was square and ugly with concrete walls, narrow slit windows high above the ground and stacks of crates in the corners. It was empty but for me
and the three Dark mages. Cinder was there, holding me almost off the ground, and Khazad, his small black eyes glinting. I’d been so focused on the call that I hadn’t been looking into the future for danger and, looking at Cinder’s face, I knew that it might just have cost me my life.

Cinder shook me hard enough to make my teeth rattle. ‘I’m gonna burn you to ash, Verus. I’ll make it slow, so you can feel it. I’m gonna make you tell me which part to burn off next.’

‘No.’ Khazad’s expression was more evil than Cinder’s if anything. ‘Not till I’ve had my turn. He’s going to pay for that stunt at the ball.’

‘Gonna ask you this once,’ Cinder said, and pulled me close. ‘Where’s the girl? Where’s the key?’

‘You know,’ I said light-headedly, ‘I think you asked twice.’

Cinder hauled one massive arm back and smashed a punch into my face. If I hadn’t twisted it would have broken my nose; as it was it sent me back to the floor with stars flashing in front of my eyes. By the time they’d cleared Cinder had dragged me back up again. He drew back for another go.

‘Wait,’ a third voice said. Deleo stepped in front of me. She was still wearing her mask, and her eyes watched me coldly. ‘Give him a second.’

Cinder glowered but obeyed, and a moment later my head cleared. Cinder’s grip was digging painfully into my shoulders; I didn’t think I’d have much chance of breaking it even without the other mages in front of me. ‘Using the annuller was very neat,’ Deleo said once I’d gotten my breath back. Her voice was calm. ‘It stopped us from tracking down your girlfriend. So we decided it would be
simpler to track you instead. We knew you’d go back to the museum. All we had to do was wait for you to leave.’ She leant in close, her blue eyes staring into mine, and there was a sudden fire burning behind them. ‘I told you this wasn’t over.’

I looked back at Deleo silently.

Deleo drew back, calm once again. ‘You’re leaving this warehouse in one of two ways. With us to where you hid that cube, or in a bag. Choose fast.’

I hesitated. Cinder grinned. Khazad was staring down at the floor. Deleo nodded. ‘Go ahead, Cinder. Start with his legs.’

‘Wait,’ I said quickly, trying to think. I needed time.

But as I spoke, Khazad did as well. ‘Something’s wrong.’

Cinder and Deleo looked at him, frowning. Khazad was staring around at the walls. ‘There’s something …’ His head snapped around. ‘A ward. This place is warded!’

‘They’re ours,’ Cinder grunted. He didn’t relax his grip, and didn’t look pleased to be interrupted.

‘
Besides
ours, you idiot! Someone’s been inside!’

‘That’s impossible,’ Deleo said. ‘No one could have gotten through the defences without us noticing.’

‘And I’m telling you they did!’ Khazad shook his head. ‘It’s too risky. We should kill him and go.’ Black energy flared up around his hand, and I knew my time was up.

But before Khazad could strike, a voice spoke from one side. ‘Your attention, please.’

Cinder dropped me to the concrete with a
thump
as he spun around. A man with dark hair and dressed in black had stepped out from behind a pile of crates. It was Morden.

*    *    *

If Morden was bothered by the sight of three Dark mages a hair’s breadth from attacking, he gave no sign of it. ‘Good morning, all of you.’ His voice was pleasant, and he held his hands clasped behind his back. ‘Cinder, Khazad, I’d prefer if you attempted no attacks.’

‘You said it was clear!’ Cinder hissed at Khazad under his breath.

‘I said we should go! If you hadn’t screwed up—’

Deleo made a quick motion and Cinder and Khazad fell silent. All three seemed to have forgotten me completely, their attention locked on Morden. ‘Master Morden,’ Deleo said levelly. ‘I don’t think this is your concern.’

‘Oh, don’t take it personally, Deleo.’ Morden sounded quite friendly. ‘You’ve done very well. But now it’s time you came with me.’

‘Thank you for the offer,’ Deleo said, her voice carefully controlled. ‘The answer is still no.’

Morden smiled then, just slightly. ‘I’m afraid you’re under a misconception, Deleo. This time you’re not being given a choice.’

Deleo stood quite still. Khazad took a pace forward, and his voice was soft and deadly. Black energy flared around his right hand. ‘There’s three of us and one of you, old man.’

I craned my neck, trying to look around, but Morden seemed to be alone. I wanted to run but knew any movement would draw everyone’s attention. ‘Yes, yes,’ Morden said tolerantly. ‘Bravado is all very well, but please realise you’re in no position to argue. Now, I’m quite impressed you were able to detect the carrier ward, but if you think for a moment you should realise there must be many more, and quite frankly, at your level of ability—’

‘Shut up!’ Khazad said with a snarl. ‘I can see your ward! It’s nothing!’

Morden sighed. ‘Do pay attention, Khazad. As I was saying, behind that ward are many others, and all of you are well within the blast radius. I’d prefer to do this peacefully, but—’

‘Del,’ Cinder rumbled.

Deleo hesitated, then made a swift motion. Cinder darted left, and energy flared up around Khazad as he drew back to strike.

The entire area vanished in a black wave. A light-eating pulse swept over all of us, nauseating and weakening and dazing me all at once. I felt my strength fade, and crumpled to the ground.

There was a moment of silence, then as if from a distance, I heard Morden speaking. His voice seemed to be fading, growing fainter and fainter. ‘They always have to learn the hard way, don’t they? Pack them up and make sure they’re still alive.’

There was more, but I didn’t hear it. Blackness swallowed me, and everything went dark.

I opened my eyes.

I was lying on a warm bed in a small, comfortable room. The walls were panelled with wood. Furniture crowded the room, neat and expensive, and a fire was burning in a fireplace. To one side was a long window; although the room was well lit, the light outside was dim and rain streaked the glass. Something told me not to move, and I didn’t. Instead I lay where I was, letting my memory come back. I was wearing the same clothes as when I left. All I could hear was the faint crackle of the fire and the distant sound of the rain as it beat against the window.