Burned

10

It was the next day. A night’s sleep had restored my energy and will; I wasn’t quite at full strength, but I was good enough. A little over three days left.

‘Are there any Keepers not going on this mission?’ I asked Caldera quietly. The two of us were walking down a corridor in the heart of the Westminster headquarters. Others were moving in the same direction, both ahead of us and behind, and most of the offices we’d passed along the way were empty. It felt as though everyone in the building was heading for the same spot.

‘All leave’s been cancelled,’ Caldera said. Ahead of us, a Keeper paused to hold a door open; Caldera nodded her thanks as we caught up to him. ‘The ones who aren’t attached to the units are on standby in case something else goes wrong.’

Up ahead, I could hear the murmur of voices – a lot of voices. It sounded as though we were approaching a crowd. ‘Have you ever been on this big an operation before?’

‘In Britain.’

‘How about outside Britain?’

‘This’ll be a first.’

The corridor we were in opened up into a large room shaped like an amphitheatre. The walls were painted white, with equipment hanging from the ceiling, and at the centre was a wide circular table made out of translucent crystal. Rows of seats formed a semicircle around the table, with a raised mezzanine floor above the seats; there looked to be seating for close to a hundred, and already the room was more than half full, with more people filing in every minute. Keepers were everywhere, in battle gear and mage robes and in civilian clothing; they were talking quietly in pairs and small groups, their voices filling the air with a steady buzz. The far side of the room was occupied with computer equipment, and people who looked like technicians were holding discussions over tablets and displays. Magical auras were everywhere, overloading my mage’s sight with the signatures of hundreds of active spells, elemental and living and universal magics all mixed together to the point where I had trouble telling them apart.

I came to a halt in the entryway, dizzy from all the input. There was too much to take in. ‘Come on,’ Caldera said over her shoulder. ‘Let’s find a seat.’

I caught up with her, nearly tripping as I looked around. ‘Stop staring,’ Caldera said. ‘You look like a tourist.’

A voice called out to us from our left. ‘Hey, you ugly lot. Who let you in?’

We both turned to see a fat, bearded mage with South American looks grinning at us. ‘Oh, bloody hell,’ Caldera said. ‘Didn’t know they were desperate enough to bring you along.’

‘Love you too, Caldy.’ Coatl looked at me. ‘Yo, Verus. You still letting her drag you around?’

I grinned back at him. ‘Could be worse. I could get assigned to you.’

Coatl is from Brazil, a Keeper who arrived on an exchange programme a while back and liked Britain enough to stay. He’s a mind mage, which isn’t one of the types I usually get on with (old prejudices), but I’d first met Coatl earlier this year and to my surprise had come to like him. He’s highly irreverent and insults people a lot, but he’s honest and if he does use his magic to listen in on my thoughts, he does it subtly enough that I haven’t noticed.

As Coatl led us through the crowd, I spotted other mages I recognised. Slate was sitting on one of the front benches, talking to his partner Trask; further back was another Keeper I knew called Lizbeth. Over on the far side was Landis, leaning nonchalantly against the wall, and Rain was standing next to the central table, having some kind of discussion with a pair of men in formal mage robes. And up on the mezzanine floor was … I blinked. ‘Coatl,’ I said, tapping his shoulder and nodding upwards. ‘Is that who I think it is?’

Coatl glanced up. ‘That’s the one.’

Caldera followed our looks. ‘The old guy in blue?’

‘His name’s Alaundo,’ I said. I’d never seen him before, but I recognised him from pictures, a white-haired man in robes leaning on a twisted staff.

‘Oh, him?’ Caldera said. ‘I see his name on the intel forecasts. Didn’t know he ever came in.’

‘He doesn’t,’ Coatl said, dropping down on to a bench and putting his feet up. ‘Wonder what the Council promised him to make him show up?’

‘They’re pulling out all the stops, aren’t they?’ I said. Master Alaundo is the foremost diviner for the Council, and probably the most famous diviner in Britain. He was supposed to spend most of the year on his private estate on the Isle of Man, only leaving for very special occasions. I had to admit, I was impressed. Alaundo is a living legend in divination circles.

I was about to turn back when something caught my attention. The man Alaundo was talking to had hair the same shade of white, but he was thinner and more sprightly. He had his back to me, but as he shifted position I caught a glimpse of his face. I hadn’t seen him for years, but I recognised him instantly: it was my old teacher, Helikaon. I’d studied with him for a while after leaving Richard. How many diviners are the Council bringing in on this thing?

‘Hey, Alex,’ Caldera said. ‘You hear that?’

I turned back to Coatl. ‘Sorry, what?’

‘Cinder and Deleo had a couple of men running backup for them last night,’ Coatl said. ‘They put up a barrier and chucked tear gas to make us back off. Force and space magic. Caldera thought you’d know who they were.’

‘Was the force user tall and skinny with black hair?’

‘Wearing a mask, didn’t get a good look at him. But tall, yeah. Powerful, too.’

I nodded. ‘Onyx. Morden’s Chosen, just like Deleo is Richard’s. He’s bad news; keep your distance if you can. But I don’t know anything about a space user on their team.’

‘He seemed pretty young from what I saw.’ Coatl shrugged. ‘Oh well. You’ll probably meet him soon enough.’

‘Yeah, that makes me feel better.’

A double chime sounded, echoing softly through the room. Looking around, I saw that the mages still standing were finding their seats. I sat next to Caldera as the people in the room turned to look towards the centre. A man in mage robes stepped up to the central table and the sounds of conversation fell to a murmur.

‘Good afternoon, Keepers,’ the man said. He looked to be in his fifties, with close-cut brown hair and a square face. I’d never spoken to him, but Caldera had pointed him out in the past: this was Nimbus, an air mage and the Director of Operations for the Order of the Star. ‘I’m sure you’ve all been speculating about today’s operation. Before we start, I’d like to extend our thanks to the Council members who’ve been assisting us in our preparations, and to the members of the Order of the Shield who’ll be providing operational support on the ground.’

Nimbus didn’t seem to be making any effort to raise his voice, but it echoed loudly; some spell or other. A few stragglers were still filtering in through the doors, spreading out around the room to find seats or standing against the walls. Looking around, I could see that the Keepers were paying attention. I’ve seen Keeper briefings get pretty rowdy, but it didn’t look as though there would be any back-talk this time.

‘As some of you may know, over the past year, the Dark mage Richard Drakh has been expanding his power base in Britain,’ Nimbus said. ‘At present he holds influence over a large but loosely organised cabal of Dark mages. Our current assessments indicate that Drakh maintains this control due to his possession of several powerful Precursor relics. We have learned that Drakh is currently attempting to acquire another artefact, this one more powerful than those he already owns. He will attempt to retrieve this relic tonight.’

A figure standing behind Nimbus had caught my eye. He had receding straw-coloured hair and was dressed in mage robes in muted colours. ‘Caldera,’ I murmured. ‘Guy behind Nimbus, third on the right. Is that who I think it is?’

Caldera didn’t look at me. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’

‘But is it—?’

‘Maradok, yeah. Don’t do anything stupid.’

Nimbus was speaking ‘… of the utmost importance.’ He looked towards Maradok. ‘Councilman Maradok.’

Maradok stepped forward. ‘The relic in question is held within a bubble realm.’ He had an upper-class English accent, and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. I wondered if he’d sounded the same way when ordering my assassination. ‘The bubble realm can only be accessed from one precise geographical location. The location in question is within the city of Aleppo in Syria.’

A murmur went up from around the audience. Glancing around, I saw looks of surprise, but not as many as I might have expected; some of the audience had probably heard about this in advance. Bubble realms are small pocket realities, fully disconnected from our world; they’re rarer than shadow realms and usually older, not to mention potentially a lot more dangerous. In the centre of the room, the table lit up and a translucent map of Syria appeared in the air above the projector, its borders marked in black and the neighbouring countries in white. A red circular dot was located in the north-west of the country.

‘As you may be aware, Syria is in the midst of an extended civil war,’ Maradok said. ‘Control of the country is divided between government forces, rebels and Islamic State militia.’ As Maradok spoke, sections of the map turned pink, green and grey respectively. ‘Aleppo is one of the battlegrounds and currently contains elements from all three forces, in addition to civilians and neutral parties.’ The map zoomed in and the red dot expanded into a city layout. The colours signifying ownership were still there, but they were blotchy and irregular, mixed up with each other. One spot in the bottom right was marked with a glowing red star. The areas around it were a mixture of grey and green.

‘Since learning of Drakh’s plans, the Light Council of Britain has been in contact with the Light Council of Syria,’ Maradok went on. ‘The Syrian Council have agreed to permit our operations within the designated time window. They have further agreed to provide gate staging points for our use, as well as operational intelligence on the military situation. However, they have warned us that the area in question is not currently under government control. They have also warned us that local Dark mages, as well as Dark mages affiliated with Islamic State, may be attempting to access the relic.’

‘Sounds like a great place,’ I muttered to Caldera.

‘Shh.’

‘The bubble realm is believed to be a storage facility,’ Maradok said. ‘Although our intelligence suggests that it has no stationary wards or bound guardians, the realm nevertheless has a strong defence mechanism. It is protected by a time lock that only permits access under certain highly specific astrological conditions. Those conditions will be satisfied tonight, and when they are, the gate to the bubble realm will open for a period of slightly under three hours. Once this time has elapsed, the gate will close. Once this happens, our current predictions suggest that the astronomical alignment required for another entry will not reoccur until next autumn at the earliest. Our intelligence also suggests that gate access from inside the bubble realm will be highly problematic. Anyone still inside the realm when it closes will most likely be trapped for a minimum of nine months.’

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keepers glancing at each other. Maradok paused for a moment, then went on. ‘The relic in question is believed to be held within an archaic model of a Minkowski box.’ The map of Syria disappeared, to be replaced by a three-dimensional image of a grey elongated rectangular container with an overlapping lid. As Maradok looked up, the box rotated, giving everyone a good view. ‘According to our current information, the box contains a bound magical creature, held in stasis. The creature is believed to be highly powerful and extremely destructive. Should you attain possession of the box, do not open it under any circumstances. Return it to a representative of the Council at the earliest possible opportunity.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Coatl said to me under his breath. ‘This thing Pandora’s box, or what?’

‘Yeah,’ I said. I’d heard of Minkowski boxes, but didn’t know much about them. ‘I don’t remember that story having a happy ending.’

‘Shh,’ Caldera said.

Maradok nodded to his side. ‘Captain Rain.’

Rain stepped forward and the map of Aleppo reappeared, this time zoomed in. ‘We have scouted the area around the bubble realm’s access point,’ he said. ‘Once on the ground, we will split into two teams. The containing force, led by Captain Elandis, will establish a perimeter around the building containing the access point. Meanwhile, the strike team, led by myself, will enter the bubble realm and retrieve the relic.’ He looked around. ‘Any questions?’

Someone near the front raised their hand. ‘Yes?’ Rain asked.

‘What’s the layout of the bubble realm?’ a Keeper I didn’t know asked.

‘We don’t know,’ Rain said. ‘We’ll have to find out once we get inside.’

Another keeper I recognised from Red’s spoke up. ‘What kind of backup do we have?’

‘Keepers from the Order of the Shield will be detailed to your units on an individual basis.’

‘What about reserves?’

‘From the information we’ve been given, gate and teleportation magic within the bubble realm will not work reliably,’ Rain said. ‘That means no mobile reserve. We’ll have what we bring in.’

There was a pause. ‘Any other questions?’ Rain said.

Another Keeper spoke up from out of my line of sight. ‘What happens if the time’s running out and we still haven’t found the relic?’

‘Then we pull out,’ Rain said. ‘The primary objective is to prevent Drakh from acquiring the relic. Retrieving it ourselves is a secondary priority. If we can’t get to it, but Drakh can’t either, that’s good enough for us.’

The Keepers seemed to like that, judging from the reactions. I glanced at the Director of Operations, Nimbus. His expression was neutral, and I wondered whether his priorities were the same as Rain’s.

‘Is that it?’ Rain said when no one else spoke up. ‘Then report to your squad leaders for your assignments. Lead elements gate out in two hours.’ He looked around. ‘Good luck.’

The room broke out in conversation, the Keepers discussing what they’d just heard. I looked at Caldera. ‘You think it’s going to work?’

‘With this much?’ Caldera said. ‘It bloody well should, unless your old master brings an army.’ She shrugged. ‘Guess the Council’s finally taking him seriously.’

‘Mm,’ I said. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

‘Sounds like I’m outside,’ Coatl said. ‘You going in with Rain?’

Down at ground level, I saw that Maradok was making his way to the exit. ‘I think I need to have a chat,’ I said to Caldera and Coatl. ‘Back in a sec.’ I rose and headed down through the crowd.

I caught up with Maradok before he made it out of the room. ‘Councilman?’ I said. ‘Excuse me?’

Maradok turned. Up close, he looked older than he had at a distance, with a long face and receding hair the colour of dirty straw. He could have been a civil servant, except for his eyes – they were blue, with a certain detached quality to them. He didn’t show any sign of surprise at seeing me. ‘Ah. Mage Verus, is it?’

‘That’s right. Mind if we have a word?’

‘I don’t see why not,’ Maradok said. ‘Let’s find somewhere a little quieter.’

‘So how can I help you?’ Maradok asked.

We were in a side room off one of the corridors. The door was closed, but I could still hear voices from the Keepers in the auditorium. Far enough away to be private, but still close enough to discourage any kind of violence – not that that was very likely in the middle of Keeper HQ, but I’ve learned to be careful about these things. Maradok didn’t seem terribly concerned one way or the other, but I had the feeling that he’d taken the location into account too.

The Light Council doesn’t have an official intelligence service. In theory it’s something the Keepers are supposed to handle, along with all of their other duties. In practice the only Keepers who do any real intelligence work are the Order of the Cloak, and since they specialise in dealing with normals, it’s easy for most mages to forget that they even exist. When it comes to dealing with other mages, Keepers act solely as police, under strict Council control.

But just because the Council’s intelligence services aren’t official, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. According to rumour, each of the major Council factions has its own private intelligence network, and those networks handle everything from surveillance to information brokering to outright assassinations. I’m pretty sure that Talisid’s involved with one of those networks, even if he’s never told me exactly how. If Caldera was right, Maradok was of the same breed. You’d think that since they were both with Council intelligence, then Maradok ought to be on my side. Pity things don’t work that way.

In any case, I’d had some time to think about how to approach Maradok, and I’d decided to take the direct approach. ‘Could you stop trying to kill me, please?’

Maradok looked at me.

‘This is the part where you’re supposed to say that you have no idea what I’m talking about,’ I said. ‘Then you ask where I’ve been getting these crazy notions, and when I explain, you tell me that you know nothing at all about the events I’m referring to. Given that we’re both busy men, how about we save ourselves some time and skip to the part where we tell each other what we really want?’

Maradok regarded me with those calm eyes of his. I could sense him making up his mind, and the patterns the future made were unusual ones. Normally when someone’s making a decision I see the possibilities shift and flicker. Maradok’s potential futures didn’t flicker; they jumped from one fully formed set of actions to another, with a brief pause for consideration between each. After a moment, the actions settled. ‘That seems reasonable.’

‘Good.’ I paused. ‘Are you going to stop trying to kill me?’

‘That rather depends on you.’

‘Depends on what?’

‘On whether you continue participating in this operation.’

‘I don’t exactly have much of a choice.’

‘Then I’m afraid your odds of survival are not high.’

‘Would you mind explaining exactly what your issue is?’

‘We really have no personal quarrel with you,’ Maradok said. His manner was polite and courteous, rather like a bank manager explaining why he’s not going to increase your overdraft. ‘Personally, I would be quite happy to see you enjoying a long and healthy life in some peaceful location. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be an option.’

‘You think I’m working for Richard Drakh,’ I said flatly.

‘Actually, no.’

I blinked. ‘You believe me?’

‘About your claim to have separated yourself from him? Yes, on the balance of probabilities, I would be inclined to believe it.’

‘Then if you know I’m not helping Richard,’ I said, ‘why are we having this conversation?’

‘Well, therein lies the problem,’ Maradok said. ‘Not working for your old master and not helping your old master are different things.’

‘Why would I want to help him?’

‘That’s a very interesting question.’

‘To which the answer is that I’m not going to.’

‘Unfortunately, the divinations disagree.’

‘What divinations?’

‘I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know that we’ve had our eye on Drakh for some time.’ Maradok leaned back on to a desk, half sitting on the edge. ‘In doing so, one of the resources we made use of was of course divination. Our long-term divinations consider it reasonably likely that within the next few years, Richard Drakh’s personal power will grow to the extent that it rivals the Light Council. This process involves you.’

I looked up sharply. ‘How?’

‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to disclose any details. I will, however, give you one relevant piece of information. You, Drakh and the relic are connected. In some way, you are instrumental to his gaining the power of the creature trapped inside.’

I stood very still. ‘How?’

‘I’m not at liberty to say. The important part, from your point of view, is that you are a necessary component. Without you, Drakh doesn’t get what he wants.’

‘So if I’m dead, Drakh’s weakened,’ I said flatly. ‘Is that about the size of it?’

‘That’s about the size of it.’

‘This is insane,’ I said. ‘You launched an assassination attempt that got multiple people killed because of a divination?’

Maradok raised an eyebrow. ‘As a diviner, I would have thought you’d be more sympathetic.’

‘That’s not how divination works. Looking an hour into the future, sure. Maybe a day. But months or years? That’s nothing but a wild guess.’

‘You seem to be very confident.’

‘I have quite extensive experience with divination in life-or-death situations. You can’t make those kinds of long-term predictions with any kind of accuracy. If your diviner told you that he could, he’s a con-man.’

‘That’s an interesting assessment,’ Maradok said. ‘Would it change your opinion if I told you that the mage responsible for giving this particular divination was Master Alaundo?’

I stopped.

‘And yes, I am aware of the difficulties regarding long-term divinations,’ Maradok continued when I didn’t speak. ‘The potential future in which you enable Drakh to gain access to the creature within this relic is only a possibility. It is, however, a likely possibility. And unfortunately for you, out of the futures in which you do not help Drakh in this way, the ones most likely to occur are the ones in which you are no longer alive.’

‘The only way in which I don’t help Richard is if I’m dead,’ I said quietly. ‘Is that it?’

‘Those appear to be the most probable alternatives.’

‘What about the less probable ones?’

‘There are always uncertainties,’ Maradok said. ‘In this case, there is a narrow range of possibilities in which none of the above events come to pass. The probability is low enough that we are disinclined to pursue that as a strategy.’

‘In other words, you think the safest option is just to kill me and be sure,’ I said. ‘Can you suggest some others?’

‘The alternative is that you remove yourself from this operation,’ Maradok said. ‘I’m sure you can understand that given what we’ve just discussed, the prospect of you being closely involved in the Council operation to retrieve this relic is … troubling. Especially given the presence of Drakh’s forces. We would feel very much more secure if you were as far away from this relic as possible.’

‘I can’t remove myself from the operation because if I do, the proposal sentencing me to death is going to pass through the Council. Which your boss Sal Sarque voted for. The only reason I’m getting anywhere near this relic is because you’re trying to get me killed to stop me getting anywhere near the relic!’

‘Life is full of ironies.’

I looked at Maradok in disbelief.

‘Let me be clear,’ Maradok said. ‘We want you as far away from that relic and from your old master as possible. Whether that removal is done via geography or mortality is optional. From your point of view, I would recommend the former.’

‘Say I do,’ I said. ‘Let’s say I resign from this operation right now and never go near Syria again for as long as I live. Would Sal Sarque reverse his vote and make sure the proposal doesn’t go through?’

‘Verus, you have an established history of tricking and outmanoeuvring other mages. I’m afraid that a simple verbal promise that you’d stay away from the relic is not enough.’

‘Then what would you need?’

Maradok shrugged.

‘Do you understand just how little choice you’re leaving me?’ I said. ‘If I don’t back out of this operation, you’re going to try to kill me. But if I do back out of this operation, the proposal will go through on Saturday and then the Keepers will kill me. I do not have any other options.’

‘You have other options,’ Maradok said. ‘You leave. Pack up and find yourself a new home. I hear New Zealand is very nice this time of year. Or perhaps Argentina. Maybe travel for a while. I’m sure a diviner as competent as yourself won’t go hungry. I can assure you that as long as you remove yourself from the affairs of this country, we will lose all interest in you.’

‘And Levistus’s men?’ I said quietly. ‘Once they have a hunting licence from the Council, you think they won’t track me down?’

‘If that’s your concern, I suggest you contact Levistus to make your own accommodations.’

‘He won’t. He made that very clear.’

Maradok shrugged again. His body language clearly communicated that this was not his problem.

‘How about a third option?’ I said.

‘Such as?’

‘I’ll take part in this operation,’ I said. ‘I’ll get hold of this relic. And I’ll make sure it’s delivered personally to you. If I do that, will you believe that this divination’s wrong?’

‘We do not want you in proximity to this relic,’ Maradok said. ‘Regardless of whom you claim to be retrieving it for.’

‘I don’t care. I’ve had it with people telling me that I’m secretly working for Richard. I’m going to prove you wrong if I have to personally dump this thing in your hands. And when I do, I want a fucking apology from you.’

Maradok just looked at me. I turned and walked out.

‘You told him what?’ Caldera asked me.

‘It was the best I could think of.’

The two of us were on standby in one of the transit rooms. There are several of them in Keeper HQ; they’re designed to be used for gate spells, and they’re protected by complex security systems meant to ensure that only Keepers and other mages with clearance can gate in or out. We’d just spent the past hour in secondary briefings with Rain and other Keepers, and now we were waiting for the go order. This was the first chance I’d had to get Caldera alone.

‘Jesus, Alex,’ Caldera said. ‘I know I’m not one to talk, but you think you could manage not to piss off the brass?’

‘What else was I supposed to do?’ I said. ‘Maradok wasn’t budging. At least this way if I can get this damn relic there’s a chance he’ll back off.’

‘Assuming you don’t catch a bullet on the way in.’ Caldera frowned. ‘Hate to say it, but have you considered taking his advice?’

‘You’re telling me to back off and be cautious?’

‘Don’t be a smart-arse.’

‘It’s not an option,’ I said. ‘I have to do this job. And yes, it’s the same reason as before, and no, I’m still not allowed to tell you why. Sorry.’

‘Mm,’ Caldera said. She was giving me a considering look. Caldera is a cop, and like most cops she’s good at ferreting out secrets. Sooner or later she was going to learn what was really going on, and I had the feeling that she had a good idea already.

Movement in the futures caught my eye. ‘There’s someone I need to talk to,’ I said. ‘Back in a minute.’

‘One sec,’ Caldera said. ‘Have you told Coatl?’

‘No.’

‘You okay with me doing it?’

I thought for a second. I don’t trust Coatl as much as I do Caldera, but he’d had plenty of chances to stab me in the back in the past and he hadn’t taken them. Besides, I couldn’t see how letting him know could make things significantly worse. ‘All right. Tell him that if he picks up anything to do with another assassination attempt, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.’

Caldera nodded and I headed out into the corridor. The person I was looking for was nowhere in sight, but I knew where he was … and more to the point, he knew that I knew. I went around the corner, found the right door, let myself in and closed it behind me.

‘Took you long enough,’ Helikaon said. He was sitting at his ease on one of the chairs, an arm resting along the desk. ‘So what have you managed to get yourself into this time?’

Helikaon looks about sixty, though I know for a fact that he’s more than a quarter of a century older. His dress was simple by the standards of the Keepers: worn trousers and an open-necked shirt that left his arms bare. He looked like an elderly workman if anything, which in some ways isn’t that far from the truth. ‘Let’s say that things are a little worse than usual,’ I said.

Helikaon was the second of my two teachers, and while it was Richard from whom I learned the fundamentals of magic, it was Helikaon who taught me what it really meant to be a diviner. Helikaon is a master, and he’s probably forgotten more about divination than I’ll ever learn, not unless I live to at least fifty, which didn’t seem all that likely at the moment. Like Alaundo, Helikaon works on contract for the Council, but unlike Alaundo, he’s never shown any interest in acquiring influence or power. I asked him why once, and Helikaon made it clear that he considered the great majority of Council politics to be nothing more than an elaborate waste of time that painted a target on your back. Helikaon is extremely careful about his personal safety.

‘First question,’ Helikaon said. ‘What the bloody hell are you doing here?’

‘So I’m guessing you know about the Council resolution.’

‘I might live on rocks, but I don’t hide under them.’ Helikaon looked at me with eyebrows raised. ‘Well?’

‘I’m trying to get the resolution overturned.’

‘You’re going a bloody stupid way about it,’ Helikaon said. ‘Hanging around with a bunch of Keepers? How long before one of them tries to put a knife in your back?’

‘How much did Alaundo tell you?’

‘Enough to make it clear you’ve outstayed your welcome. What was the first thing I taught you about fights?’

‘Not to be there when they happened,’ I said with a sigh. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘No. It’s not.’ Helikaon pointed at me. ‘Get out of here. Right now. You can send your apologies later. Don’t stop until you’ve put a few countries between you and everyone else.’

‘I can’t leave, not yet. I’ve got people that are depending on me.’

‘This is about that girl, isn’t it? Your apprentice?’

‘She’s scheduled to take her journeyman test on Friday,’ I said. ‘The resolution doesn’t come due until Saturday. If I still haven’t managed to sort anything out by then … then maybe I’ll be going with your plan.’

‘And what makes you think you’ll be free to leave?’ Helikaon said. ‘What happens if the Keepers decide to pick you up Thursday night and hold you a couple of days for questioning? Forty-eight hours in a cell and oops, isn’t that funny, looks like now all of a sudden you’re guilty of something else. You think that hasn’t occurred to them? You think they’re stupid?’

I was silent. ‘Listen, Alex,’ Helikaon said. ‘This operation doesn’t matter.’

‘If it doesn’t matter, why are you helping them?’

‘You think I’m taking a trip to Syria?’ Helikaon snorted. ‘World travelling’s for the youngsters. I’m staying back here with Alaundo. Bit of path-walking and we can tell them what they need to know without ever leaving the building. That’s the smart way to do things. And if things go wrong, turns out your old master has brought along a bit too much for the Council to deal with … well, that’s what the Keepers are paid for. Let ’em deal with it.’

‘Do the Keepers know that’s your attitude?’

‘Stop trying to change the subject. I’m not going in on the ground because it doesn’t matter who gets this relic. Doesn’t matter if the Council gets it, doesn’t matter if Drakh gets it. I don’t risk my life for them. You shouldn’t either.’

‘I’m not doing it for the Council.’

‘Doesn’t matter who you’re doing it for.’ Helikaon pointed at me. ‘You remember what I told you, back when you first came to me? When you asked me whose side I was on?’

‘You said you weren’t on anyone’s side,’ I said. It had been one of my first memories of Helikaon, and it had left an impression. ‘You said that someone’s always going to be in charge, and that it didn’t matter if they were Light or Dark, they’d still need diviners.’

‘Because the only guy who wins in a war is the one selling the bullets.’ Helikaon shook his head. ‘I told you back in that business with the fateweaver. Don’t get involved. You didn’t listen. You’ve been getting deeper and deeper.’

‘If you’re going to tell me to stop it, that’s not really an option right now.’

‘Too late for that. It’s time to cut and run.’

‘And Luna?’ I said. ‘The others who are in the firing line? What about them?’

‘Cut ’em loose.’

I looked at Helikaon. He met my gaze without blinking, his eyes flat and hard. ‘Last call, Alex,’ Helikaon said. ‘Warning lights are on and the needle’s in the red. Are you going down with the ship, or not?’

I was silent for a little while. I didn’t want to risk alienating Helikaon … but at the end of the day, I already knew what the answer was going to be. I’d been walking a different path from him for a long time. ‘If I have to run, then I’ll run,’ I said at last. ‘But I’m not abandoning my friends.’

Helikaon looked back at me for a long moment, then got to his feet and walked out of the room.

I watched the door close. I could tell from looking into the futures that Helikaon wasn’t coming back, and I wondered if he ever would. I had the feeling that the answer might be no.