Burned

14

One day left.

When things go wrong – really, badly wrong – you’re never really ready for it. The funny thing is that preparing doesn’t seem to help that much. Working out contingency plans might help you survive the physical aspect, but it doesn’t make the mental part hit any less hard. I think it’s the seductiveness of routine. It’s so easy to believe that today’s going to be the same as yesterday, and most of the time it is the same as yesterday, and so it just goes on, one day after another, blending into a comforting sameness. Until it stops.

I paused out on the plaza outside One Canada Square, and looked up at the towering shape of Canary Wharf. From this angle, it seemed to go up for ever. I couldn’t make out the pyramid at the top, nor the slim, almost invisible walkways. Even though it was morning on Boxing Day, the place was still busy, bankers and lawyers and businessmen walking across the plaza and into the skyscrapers. The sun was shining but thick clouds were moving across the sky and it looked as though it would be overcast soon.

The phone I was holding had been trilling quietly as it rang another number; now there was a click as the person on the other end picked up. ‘Hello?’ a voice said.

‘Hey, Lyle,’ I said. ‘You said to call?’

‘Oh, Alex!’ Lyle sounded cheerful. ‘I’ve been talking with Undaaris. He just left the building a couple of minutes ago.’

‘Is he happy?’

‘Very happy. Michael from the Keeper office was just in to thank us for the help. I haven’t seen Undaaris in such a good mood for a month.’

‘I’m hoping that translates into a favourable vote. Because I’m kind of running out of time here.’

‘Don’t worry, that was exactly where he went. He’s off to the War Rooms right now. It’ll be done within a couple of hours.’

I let myself relax slightly. Not all the way – it wasn’t a done deal yet – but it was the best news I’d had in a while. A familiar face caught my eye from across the plaza: Sonder. I waved to him and he waved back, changing course to head towards me. ‘Well, that’s a relief.’

‘Congratulations on your good work, by the way. This wouldn’t have been possible without you.’

‘Thanks.’

‘I’d better go. Doing anything special for Christmas?’

‘Yeah, I’m watching some journeyman tests. Call me back when you know anything?’

‘Of course. Speak to you soon. And good job.’

I hung up and nodded to Sonder. He was wearing a long overcoat, but I could see the bottom of a set of mage robes peeking out from underneath. ‘Hey.’

‘Hey, Alex.’ Sonder looked around. ‘Where’s Anne?’

‘We asked if she could come,’ I said as we started walking for the doors. ‘They said no.’

‘Really?’

‘She’s not a Light mage and she’s not Luna’s master.’

Sonder frowned. ‘That still doesn’t seem fair. Maybe if we talked to them…’

‘Now’s probably not the best time to be ruffling any feathers. Don’t worry – if Luna passes, the first thing she’s going to do is head for Anne’s flat and tell her the whole story. You should come along.’

We passed through ground floor security and were directed to the far lifts. Canary Wharf is supposed to be an office block, and for the most part it is. But the top floors are owned by the Council, and they look considerably different to the pictures you’d see if you looked them up on the internet. We got into the far lift and pressed the button for the forty-third floor.

‘Whew, warm,’ Sonder said, taking off his coat. The mage robes he was wearing underneath were blue and white, and very well tailored. ‘Nice coat, by the way.’

‘Thanks.’

Sonder glanced down at my black jeans and top. ‘You’re not wearing robes?’

‘Burned.’ Once all this was over, I’d have to get some new ones from Arachne. ‘I’m not planning to be the centre of attention anyway.’

The lift let us out into a corridor where a couple of security men were waiting. The check was thorough. I was treated more courteously than usual. One of the security men even asked how I was. I couldn’t figure it out until I realised that it must be because of the Syria operation. Apparently the Council security had their own grapevine. Once we were done we were escorted down the corridors and into a small anteroom.

Luna was waiting inside, and as she saw me her face lit up. ‘You came!’

‘Of course I came.’ I looked Luna up and down. ‘Was that really your choice of clothing?’

Luna rolled her eyes. She was wearing a white robe, belted at the waist. It didn’t look bad on her but it wasn’t exactly her usual style. ‘They wouldn’t let me wear anything else.’

‘It’s kind of traditional,’ Sonder said.

‘Still looks dorky.’ Luna looked between us. ‘No Anne?’

‘Same story as your clothes,’ I said. ‘What about Vari?’

‘He’s at the offices for the apprentice programme,’ Luna said. ‘I told him he ought to sort things out there first.’ Luna looked disappointed. ‘He said he’d come straight here afterwards. I thought he’d be done by now.’

‘He’s not going to have much time to make it,’ I said. The test was due to start in less than twenty minutes. I thought briefly about asking Luna how things had gone yesterday afternoon, then realised I didn’t need to. She looked relaxed and alert, ready to go. Challenges tend to bring out the best in Luna.

Luna paced up and down the room, clearly full of energy. ‘Got your whip?’ I asked.

‘Not using it.’

‘Wait, what?’ Now I was worried. That focus wand was made for Luna by Arachne, and it extends Luna’s range and control significantly. I’d never seen Luna go into a duel without it. ‘Why?’

‘Not allowed.’

‘You aren’t allowed magic items for the journeyman tests,’ Sonder said. ‘Otherwise anyone could pass just by gearing up enough.’

‘Yeah, but…’

‘It’s okay,’ Luna said. She didn’t look worried. ‘I’ve known the rules for months.’

‘You didn’t tell me.’

‘You didn’t ask. Don’t worry, I’ve been practising. My curse still has reach without it, the focus just helps. You were the one who told me that, remember?’

‘I did?’

‘Sure.’

I checked the time. Fifteen minutes. ‘You know, you might not necessarily have to do this any more.’

‘Do what?’

‘Your journeyman test. I mean, it isn’t confirmed yet, but it’s looking as though the resolution’s not going to be…’

‘You’re really nervous about me doing this, aren’t you?’

‘No,’ I said.

Luna grinned.

‘Fine. Maybe a little.’ Journeyman tests aren’t deadly – they’re run by Light mages, not Dark ones – and the penalties for failure are pretty minor. But still, accidents happen. ‘I’m just saying you don’t have to if you don’t want to.’

Luna was still grinning at me. ‘You’re so cute when you’re like that.’

‘I am not cute.’

‘Yes, you are. You’ve got that whole mother hen thing.’

I decided there was no dignified way to answer that one, and looked to see that Sonder was trying to hide a smile. ‘What’s so funny?’

Sonder composed himself. ‘Nothing.’

A man opened the door and looked in. ‘Apprentice Mancuso?’

Luna nodded. ‘It’s time,’ the man said.

‘Okay.’ Luna got to her feet. ‘Let’s do this.’

‘Good luck,’ I said.

‘Eh,’ Luna said. ‘I’ll be fine.’

It would have sounded convincing to most people, but I’ve known Luna a long time and I knew that she was more nervous than she looked. Made two of us, I suppose. ‘See you soon,’ Sonder said.

Luna turned and walked out. I had a last glimpse of her curse layered in around her, tightly packed and controlled, before the man closed the door behind her. I found myself staring after her.

‘Come on,’ Sonder said when I didn’t move. ‘We should go up to the viewing gallery.’

I tore myself away with difficulty. ‘Yeah.’

The top floor of the Canary Wharf complex is a ballroom, with a wide open floor surrounded by balconies and overlooking windows. The room Sonder led me to was long and narrow, with one wall looking down on to the ballroom floor, which didn’t look very much like a ballroom at the moment. Some sort of maze had been set up in the centre, and a pair of what looked like duelling arenas were spaced out to the side. The window giving us a view of the ballroom looked transparent, but I’d been down on that floor before and I knew that it was one-way glass. No one out there would be able to see us.

‘I wasn’t expecting it to be this crowded,’ I said under my breath. There were maybe twenty-five people in the gallery, standing and sitting in small groups, talking quietly. Like Sonder, most were wearing mage robes. I recognised a couple of girls that I thought were Luna’s classmates, as well as two of her teachers, but there were at least ten people that I was pretty sure I’d never seen before.

‘It usually is,’ Sonder said quietly. We walked towards the windows at the far end where it was quieter. One of Luna’s teachers, a tall mage named Saris who I knew was her duelling instructor, gave us a nod as we passed.

‘It shouldn’t take this many to run a test.’

‘Actually, the staff are down there,’ Sonder said, pointing down to the floor. A couple of men were visible below, standing by one of the maze walls. ‘So they can jump in if anything goes wrong.’

‘So who are these guys?’

‘Just other mages.’

‘What is this, a spectator sport?’

‘They’re just here to see what’s going on.’

I gave Sonder a look. ‘On Boxing Day morning?’

‘There are always people to watch tests,’ Sonder said. ‘Especially if it’s someone who’s been getting a lot of interest. Some of them are probably scouting.’

‘For what?’

‘You know, positions. Like, if a new battle mage is testing, then you’ll get some Keepers watching, a mind or charm mage might bring a Council politician, that sort of thing. If you put on a good show, then you might get approached afterwards. So even if you know you’re going to pass, you still have to try.’

‘Mm,’ I said. It must be nice to be connected enough that passing the test was only a formality. ‘Are they going to bring her out?’

Sonder looked at me in surprise. ‘Not now. Don’t you know how the tests work?’

‘I didn’t exactly go up through the Light ranks, remember?’

‘Oh, right. Well, the test’s already started, just not the public part. She’s probably doing the sensing trials.’

‘Sensing trials?’

‘You’re supposed to be tested on each part of the curriculum,’ Sonder said. ‘So the basic one is magesight. Identifying magic types and items and stuff like that. It’s usually pretty easy. Kind of like the warm-up.’

‘Oh,’ I said. Suddenly I felt nervous. Luna is very good at what she does, but she’s not a mage in the traditional sense and she doesn’t have standard magesight. I’d been aware of that from the start, and so over the years in which she’d been my apprentice, I’d gone out of my way to give her a lot of practice. Luna still can’t see magic the way I can, but she’d developed workarounds, and she’d become pretty good with them. Still, sensitivity is not one of her talents. What if they gave her some test that only a full chance mage would be able to pass?

Fifteen minutes passed, then half an hour. A few more people had arrived in the viewing gallery, but they were starting to look restless, and I could see a couple of them checking the time. ‘Is it supposed to take this long?’ I said quietly to Sonder.

‘Um, it depends.’

‘Depends on what?’

‘There’s usually an oral test after the sensing.’

‘Does it take this long?’

‘It could.’

I looked at Sonder. ‘How long did it take you?’

Sonder looked uncomfortable. ‘About fifteen minutes.’

Forty minutes passed. The crowd were definitely getting impatient. I started fidgeting, then stopped as I realised how I must look. I took out my phone and tried calling Variam, hoping to distract myself. It went to voicemail. I tried again with the same result. I wondered where he was.

‘Alex,’ Sonder said. ‘Look!’

I put my phone away and turned back to the window. All of a sudden, there was activity down on the ballroom floor, with a couple of men wheeling out some sort of metal cabinet. ‘What’s going on?’ I asked quietly.

‘They’re getting ready for the next trial,’ Sonder said. ‘She must have cleared the last one.’

Which meant she’d passed. There’s no waiting to get your results in journeyman tests; either you make it or you don’t. ‘Any idea what it’s going to be?’

Down on the floor, the men wheeled the cabinet up to the maze and then started taking it off the trolley to lower it to the floor. It was a good seven or eight feet tall. ‘Well, the only absolute rule is that they can’t ask you to do anything outside your magic type,’ Sonder said. ‘So if you’re a fire mage they can’t ask you to heal, if you’re a life mage they can’t ask you to scry…’

‘So anything that’s dependent on chance.’ Doesn’t narrow the field much.

‘Yes, but usually it’s negotiated. The examiners will come up with a list of possible tests, and then the master checks them. Then he’ll veto some of them and make his own suggestions and the examiners will decide whether they’re too easy. That’s why it takes so long.’

I looked curiously at Sonder. ‘Doesn’t that mean that by the time the apprentice goes into their test, they’ll know exactly what they’re getting?’

‘Well, they don’t know all the details…’
‘Huh.’ I guess that explains how Light apprentices can be so confident of passing.

‘That’s probably why there are so many people here,’ Sonder said. ‘Pretty much no one does an unrestricted test. It’s just…’ Sonder stopped.

‘Stupid?’ I said with amusement.

‘Well, it doesn’t make much sense, does it? You need to be able to veto things you can’t handle.’

‘Planning isn’t really Luna’s thing,’ I said. ‘But she’s great at adapting on the fly.’

‘It’s still going to be— What is that?’

The men down on the floor had opened the cabinet. Inside was a humanoid figure made of some kind of grey-brown material, either metal or stone. It stood about half a head taller than the men on either side of it, with thick limbs and a barrel chest. The hands were disproportionately big and looked as though they were made for punching or crushing rather than any kind of manipulation. It stood still and inert as the men worked on it.

I glanced down at the thing. ‘What’s wrong?’

Sonder was staring. ‘That’s a combat golem.’

‘Doubt it’s a golem.’ I gave the construct a critical eye. ‘Looks more like a standard construct to me. As long as you had a high enough energy reserve, you wouldn’t need an elemental.’

‘You know what I mean! They’re doing a combat trial.’

‘So?’

‘But everyone vetoes those!’

I shrugged. ‘Like you said, we don’t get any vetoes.’

The people in the gallery looked interested now, and I could see several men and women stepping close to the window to get a better view. The two girls from Luna’s class were wide-eyed, and one of them had her hand to her mouth. ‘This is crazy,’ Sonder said. ‘No one does combat trials. Well, unless you’re looking to show off, or…’

I looked to one side. ‘There she is.’

Luna had appeared through one of the side doors, still wearing her white apprentice robe. A man escorted her to the far side of the maze, where the high walls hid her from view. After a moment’s pause, the man reappeared around the side of the maze and signalled to the two men by the construct. One of them nodded back, then reached up and did something to the back of the construct’s neck.

The construct straightened and began moving. It walked to the maze entrance, its movements slow and deliberate. We were too far up to feel anything, but I could imagine it sending a tremor through the floor with each step. It paused at the entrance to the maze; the man around the other side disappeared to head back to where Luna was, then the construct marched into the maze and out of view.

‘This is so nuts,’ Sonder said.

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘I get it. It’s not necessarily a combat trial.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Look.’ I pointed. ‘Two exits. The one on this side, and there must be one on the other. The goal must be for Luna to make her way through. She doesn’t need to destroy the construct; she just has to get around it and out the other side. Luck and chance.’

‘It’s still really dangerous,’ Sonder said. ‘No one can see her.’

Sonder was right about that; the walls of the maze were blocking our view, save the odd flash of movement. I caught a glimpse of the construct turning a corner, then the walls hid it again. A moment later, at the other end, Luna was briefly visible as she walked down one of the corridors, heading for the side of the maze where the construct was waiting.

Sonder glanced at me. ‘I thought you were worried.’

‘Not about this.’

‘This is really harsh for an apprentice test. You could ask them…’

‘Look at how that construct was designed,’ I said. ‘No ranged weapons, no edged weapons. I don’t think it’s meant to actually injure her.’

‘It wouldn’t need any.’

‘Luna’s used to dealing with a lot worse than this,’ I said. I smiled. The unknown’s always scariest. Now that I knew what the test was, all of a sudden I wasn’t so worried. ‘Have some faith in her.’

Sonder fell silent. I couldn’t see anything from the maze. The window was soundproofed so we couldn’t hear anything from the ballroom outside; the only noise was the murmur of conversation from the other spectators. They sounded excited. I wondered if some of them were here in the hope that something would go wrong, in the same way that people watch motor sports secretly hoping for a crash. Sure, no one’s supposed to be killed, but there’s always the odd accident …

There was a flash of movement from within the maze, there and gone, and I caught a glimpse of Luna’s white robes as she darted around a corner. One of the walls of the maze quivered. There was a pause, the wall quivered again, then one of the adjacent walls buckled and collapsed. I could see the people down on the floor looking towards the maze exit.

‘What’s going on in there?’ Sonder said.

‘Beats me.’

‘Do you think we should stop the test?’

‘No, I think she’ll be fine.’

‘How are you so sure?’

The side wall of the maze closest to us exploded outwards, shards scattering and sliding across the floor as the construct burst through. It stumbled out into the open, flailing at the empty air. I could see the men down on the floor shouting – one was running towards it, another backing away – but before they could do anything the construct slowed and seized up, its limbs stiffening. It toppled to the floor with a boom that was so loud I heard it through the glass.

‘Just a feeling,’ I said.

Luna came walking out of the hole in the wall, still empty-handed. She glanced down at the disabled construct and then turned to the man approaching her. I couldn’t make out her words but I got the general message. So what’s next?

Excited chatter broke out from the people to our left. Apparently they were feeling they were getting their money’s worth. ‘Is she okay?’ Sonder asked.

‘Looks fine to me,’ I said. Luna’s curse is pretty good at messing up existing spells. She’d probably just poured it into that construct until it malfunctioned. A couple more men had approached Luna and were saying something to her. Luna responded, and I laughed.

‘What?’ Sonder said.

I pointed. ‘They’re telling her, “You were supposed to come out the exit, not smash a hole through the wall.” And she’s telling them, “You didn’t put that in the rules.”’ I grinned. ‘Watching her do this stuff is a lot more fun when someone else has to deal with it.’

‘She’s lucky that worked.’

The argument down on the floor went on for a few minutes before trailing off. A clean-up crew arrived and spent some time figuring out how to get the disabled construct back in its box: apparently Luna had managed to sabotage it quite thoroughly, because after several failed attempts they just hoisted it on to a platform and wheeled it off. Meanwhile, Luna had been led to one of the arenas I’d noticed before.

‘Wait,’ Sonder said. ‘Isn’t that Celia?’

I followed Sonder’s gaze. ‘Huh,’ I said. ‘I think you’re right.’ Crossing the floor, escorted by another mage, was a slightly built girl with short blonde hair. Celia was a water mage apprentice, quiet and shy; I’d spoken to her a few times, usually while waiting for Luna to finish a class. I didn’t really know her very well, but I knew that Luna liked her. What’s she doing here?

‘Those are ceremonial robes,’ Sonder said. He was frowning. ‘They must want her for the ceremony? But they shouldn’t need a witness…’

Two of the men down on the floor were talking to Luna. Luna started to answer them, then she saw Celia and she looked back and forth between Celia and the men. She looked confused, and I knew she had to be wondering the same thing as me.

One of the men walked out into the arena. The arena was a circular model, rather than a piste, with no markings apart from the starting lines. Circular arenas are used in some of the more free-for-all types of duels, where the idea is to drive your opponent out of the ring; they’re generally less popular among Light mages, who prefer the more structured azimuth contests. The man set an item down at the centre of the arena, then backed off. The object was shaped like a hemisphere and was dark grey in colour. Once he was outside the arena ring, he turned and cast a spell.

The item at the centre of the ring lit up. Strands of light grew out of the hemisphere, each only a few inches thick, glowing blue-white-green. They floated through the air as though it were water, curving and twisting. Where they reached the arena boundary they flattened, trailing along the edge as though it were an invisible wall. When I was much younger, I used to go to the aquarium at the zoo; one of the exhibits was sea anemones, and that was what this reminded me of now.

I heard chatter from the other people in the gallery; this was obviously what they had come to see. ‘You have any idea what this is?’ I asked Sonder quietly.

Sonder nodded. ‘Anemone focus. You have to touch the focus to shut it down.’

I looked at the twisting tendrils. There were only half a dozen of them, and they weren’t moving fast, but the closer you got to the focus, the denser they became. I could probably make it in there without being grazed by a tendril, but it wouldn’t be easy. ‘What do those tendrils do?’

‘I think it depends on the model. You don’t want to get touched by one, though.’

I could feel the magic radiating from the tendrils: life, mixed with something else. The amount of power in each was low, but life magic doesn’t need a lot of power to be dangerous. One of the men was talking to Luna, presumably giving her instructions. Luna was alternating between listening to him and glancing at the anemone. The basics of the test seemed simple enough: get in through the tendrils and disable the focus. What I couldn’t figure out was what Celia was doing there. There had to be some reason …

‘Huh,’ Sonder said. ‘That’s weird.’

Down on the floor, one of the other men was placing a blindfold around Celia’s eyes. Celia looked nervous but submitted without complaint. The other guy was continuing to instruct Luna. Luna nodded – then stopped. She looked sharply at Celia, then back at the man.

‘They can’t be making Celia do this too,’ Sonder said. ‘She’s not due to make journeyman for…’

I felt a nasty sinking feeling in my gut. ‘Oh shit,’ I said quietly.

‘What?’

‘They are making Celia do it,’ I said. ‘They’re going to make Luna lead her in.’

‘Why? That doesn’t make any—’

‘Luna could make it in to that focus on her own. They know that. So they must have made it so that the only way to pass the test is for Celia to touch it. Luna has to protect both of them.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because that’s what I would have done if I wanted to make it as hard as I possibly could.’

‘But how is she going to—?’ Sonder said, then stopped as he figured it out. With Celia blindfolded, the only way Luna could get her in through those tendrils would be to lead Celia by the hand.

The man talking to Luna gave her what looked like a final instruction, then backed off. The other men withdrew a few steps as well, leaving Luna and Celia the only people near the arena. Luna stared at the anemone, then at Celia, then shot a glance up at the gallery. All of a sudden she didn’t look so confident.

Luna’s curse is powerful – much more powerful than usual for a chance effect, enough to surprise even mages who really should know better. It’s also highly focused. It’s why Luna’s so good at duels – she’s working with her curse, rather than against it. All she needs to do is direct her curse into helping her and hurting her opponent, something her curse is more than happy to do. This was why I hadn’t been worried when she’d been dealing with that construct. In sending it to fight her in that maze, the mages in charge of the test had made things easy for her. Luna’s curse loves being sent out to destroy things, especially if it’s protecting her in the process.

But protecting someone else … that’s another story. With enough concentration, Luna can prevent her curse from soaking into whoever she touches. She can even reverse it, taking the same protection and good fortune that her curse brings to her and sharing it with someone else, at least for a little while. But it’s swimming upstream, going against what her curse wants to do, and it’s very, very hard. She’s done it in the past, and with Chalice’s training she’s slowly grown better at it, but she’s never been able to do it reliably. I didn’t know if she could do it with Celia and I didn’t know if she could do it on command. I looked into the future, trying to find out.

Luna was going to try. She was searching, probing … I frowned. Something was disrupting the futures in which I watched Luna. My phone was ringing, and I was drawn towards the futures in which I answered. Annoyed, I pulled out the phone. I’d set it to mute, and it was vibrating silently. The number displayed on the screen was an unknown one; I hit the answer button and put it to my ear, turning slightly away. ‘Landis?’ I said quietly. ‘This isn’t a great time.’

‘Are you at Canary Wharf?’

‘Yes.’

‘Get out. Now.’

‘What do you—?’

‘Pay very close attention to what I am about to tell you.’ Sometimes Landis can seem scatterbrained, but there was no trace of that now. His voice was clipped and precise. ‘An order has come down from the Council for your arrest. Keepers are on their way to bring you in. They’re probably already in the building.’

‘What— Why?’

‘The charge is irrelevant. It’s a pretext to keep you contained until the proposal goes through.’

‘What if it doesn’t?’

‘I’ve just been told that the voting is closed. There won’t be any more votes against. Come tomorrow, the proposal for your execution is going to pass on schedule.’ Landis paused. ‘You’ve been set up, Alex.’

Everything was happening too fast. ‘Where are you?’

‘I’m on my way to find Variam and Anne. I’ll do what I can. For your part, you need to run, right now. Good luck.’ There was a click and the line went dead.

I lowered the phone, staring. Off to my left, the other people in the viewing gallery were still talking. Sonder was looking at me curiously; he’d only heard my half of the conversation. ‘What’s going on?’

I didn’t answer. In my head, futures forked. There were three exits from the viewing gallery and I looked into the futures in which I left by all three, following each route simultaneously. Nothing, nothing … then my future self going back along the route by which I’d entered ran into trouble. Two Keepers. The future broke up into shards of confrontation and violence; they weren’t going to let me past. The other two routes were safe. I took one step towards the far end of the gallery … and stopped.

Down below, Luna was still on the ballroom floor. As I watched, she took a cautious step out into the arena. The tendrils swept towards her and she moved quickly back, letting them skate past the boundary just in front of her. She shot a glance at Celia next to her, then took a visible breath and set herself, obviously getting ready.

For one brief, dizzying moment, I felt as though I wasn’t seeing Luna as she was now, but in all the time I’d known her. The first day she’d walked into my shop. Leaning in to break me free from the fateweaver. Her apprenticeship ceremony, standing in her white and green robes, swearing to serve and follow me. Trying on outfits in Arachne’s cave, laughing and joking, arguing with Variam. All of it had brought her here, and I wanted to be there for it. To help her, to watch her, to make sure she’d be okay. The Keepers were a couple of minutes out …

‘Alex?’ Sonder said. ‘Are you okay?’

I let out a rough, ragged breath, and turned away. It felt like tearing a scab off a wound. I had one last glimpse of Luna reaching out for Celia, then I was away, walking, not daring to look up. ‘Alex!’ Sonder called as I went through the door at the far end.

I strode down the corridors, walking, not running. I knew that Luna was in the ballroom just to my side, and I wanted to get to her before the Keepers could … except that if I came charging in trying to rescue her, it’d disrupt the test and start off a brawl we couldn’t win. Light mages take these kinds of formal tests seriously; they wouldn’t let anyone else in without direct Council orders. But they wouldn’t want to let the Keepers in either. If they held the Keepers out for long enough for Luna to finish … it was a horrible risk, but it was the only way out I could see, especially if the Keepers were too busy chasing me to go after Luna as well. Lots of things that could go wrong, not many choices, and not enough time to make them. I kept moving.

As I walked I mapped out the future paths in my head, looking for ways out. It didn’t look good. There weren’t many Keepers in the building, at least not yet, but they had the lifts I’d entered by blocked off. There were more lifts at the other end of the building—

A voice called from behind me. ‘Alex! Wait!’

I closed my eyes briefly and kept walking. Sonder hurried to catch up with me. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Sonder, this is not a good time.’ Damn it. The futures of conflict had just started multiplying, and they were coming from paths that had been clear before. The Keepers had started alerting everyone else. Now I needed to avoid all the security personnel, not just the ones that Keepers had brought with them. I changed course, turning down a side corridor just in time to avoid a patrol heading the other way.

‘I just saw a couple of Keepers go past,’ Sonder said. ‘They’re Order of the Star, I think. Who are they looking for?’

‘Who do you think?’ Now all the ways out from the floor were blocked. I could double back and hide … no, bad idea. Once the Keepers figured out that I was boxed in, they’d track me down in minutes. There was a lift up to the roof with only one person guarding it. It wouldn’t get me any closer to ground level, but it would give me options. I changed direction again, going through a pair of fire doors.

The doors opened into a corner room. Ahead and to the right, windows looked out on to the London skyline, and in the corner was a lift made of glass. A security man was standing in front of it, one hand to his ear as he listened to something coming through on the radio. He looked in our direction, did a double take and said something into a microphone. Shit. I walked towards him, not looking in his direction.

‘Why?’ Sonder said. ‘The test’s still going on.’

‘I know.’ We were halfway to the lift. I kept my head turned towards Sonder, ignoring the security guard.

‘Look, I think we should go back,’ Sonder said. ‘The Keepers—’

The security guard stepped in front of me, blocking our way. I kept walking as though I hadn’t seen him, and he held up his hand to block me. ‘Sir, could you—’

I slid around the man’s arm and struck, hands and feet flashing, ending the fight before the other man realised that it had started. He hit the floor with a thud.

Sonder stopped dead. I stepped over the guard as he lay dazed and walked into the lift. ‘Sorry, Sonder,’ I said. I gave him a smile without much humour in it. ‘Looks like you won’t be going with me this time.’

Sonder stared at me. ‘What?’

‘Just tell the Keepers the truth when they catch you up,’ I said. I reached for the controls, then paused. ‘It was good working with you again.’ I pressed the button for the roof and the lift doors hissed closed. Through the glass, I had one last image of Sonder’s face, looking totally bewildered, then he was gone.

The lifts that serve the top floors at Canary Wharf are much slower than the ones that link the office floors below. If you’re not in a hurry, it’s a relaxing way to enjoy a view of the London skyline. In my current state of mind, the slow pace wasn’t relaxing, it was agonising. I pulled out my phone and dialled Variam’s number, then waited as it rang, staring out at the London cityscape without seeing a single bit of it.

Variam picked up. ‘Vari,’ I said. ‘You need to—’

‘Where are you?’ Variam cut in. ‘Where’s Luna?’

‘Canary Wharf, she’s in the middle of her test.’

‘You have to get her to finish it. Do whatever it takes. There’s no time to explain, there’s—’

‘I know, I’m doing what I can. Where are you?’

‘Never mind where I am. Listen, I just came from the programme office. It’s a set-up, they were never going to follow through on it.’

‘On what? Wait— The transfer didn’t go through? They didn’t let Landis take over your—?’

‘They transferred mine,’ Variam said grimly. ‘Not Anne’s. They were going to keep it secret until the last minute. There are Keepers going to arrest her right now.’

‘Shit.’ Everything was spinning out of control. ‘Okay, you have to—’

‘I know what I have to do. I’m going to Anne’s flat and making sure she gets out safe, and if the Keepers get in my way, I’m going to kick their arse.’

‘Vari, no! Then you’re going to be under arrest too!’

‘Don’t care. Just get out, there are Keepers coming for you too.’

‘I know about that! You need to—!’

‘Got to go. Make sure Luna finishes that test.’ Vari hung up.

I swore and dialled him back. It rang and kept on ringing. I stared out over the London skyline as the lift reached the roof and the doors hissed quietly open, letting in a gust of cold air.

The pyramid at the top of Canary Wharf doesn’t reach all the way to the walls of the building, though you’d have to look closely to notice. Instead there’s a ledge that goes all the way around the pyramid’s base, creating a balcony walkway high up in the sky. There’s a transparent barrier around the edge, but you can pretty much look over and take in the whole view, which apart from a couple of ledges mostly consists of a seven-hundred-feet-and-change vertical drop to solid concrete. It’s just as well I’m not scared of heights.

Unfortunately, right now I had bigger problems. There was someone else on the roof, and from a glance through the futures I already knew who it was. I looked quickly at the possibilities of reaching one of the other lifts and dismissed them; in the time it would take for the lift to reach roof level, they’d catch up with me. Jumping back into the lift I’d arrived on would just leave me in the same position as before. I wasn’t visible yet – the Keeper on the rooftop was on the other side of the pyramid – but she’d come into view in seconds.

When you can’t run or evade, you might as well let your pursuer come to you. I dialled Anne’s number on my phone and put it to my ear just a figure appeared around the corner of the pyramid in front of me. The phone rang and rang again. Wind tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me off the ledge and send me falling to the streets below. The phone went to voicemail. I hung up, then turned to the figure approaching me. ‘Be with you in a second.’ I redialled and tried again.

Caldera came to a stop about twenty feet away. The pyramid of Canary Wharf was to her right, the sheer drop to the street below to her left. She folded her arms, looking at me.

I listened to the phone as it rang, searching through the futures. Nothing, nothing – wait, was she going to pick up? Maybe, but it was gone. No answer. Shit. I hung up and turned to Caldera. ‘This isn’t really the best time.’

‘What happened to the guy guarding the lift?’ Caldera asked.

‘He’ll have a couple of bruises when he wakes up.’

Caldera shook her head. ‘Couldn’t do this the easy way, could you?’

‘I could say the same to you.’ I studied Caldera. ‘You know, when you made that crack about how if the Council ordered my arrest you’d do it, I’d kind of hoped you were kidding.’

Caldera didn’t react, at least not visibly. The wind blew across the two of us, ruffling Caldera’s short brown hair. Her expression was unreadable: a cop’s face. Caldera used to wear that expression a lot when she looked at me, but over the past year, I’d become used to seeing her relaxed and smiling. She wasn’t smiling now.

‘The Council want you to come in,’ Caldera said.

‘Yeah, I’ll bet they do. What’s the charge?’

‘You’re not being charged.’

‘Really?’ I said. ‘So if I try and walk past you to that lift, you’re not going to stop me?’

Caldera didn’t reply. It didn’t matter – I already knew what the answer was. ‘They want to ask you some questions about the op.’

‘Oh? That’s funny, because they already did that. All of us, actually. At the debriefing. But you were there, weren’t you? Including the part where they said that we were free to go.’

Caldera sighed. ‘Don’t make this any harder than it has to be, all right? They want to talk to you, and they’re not asking. Let’s just go down nice and peaceful and work things out.’

‘You know, it’s the strangest thing,’ I said. ‘I have the funny feeling that once I’m in Keeper HQ, they’re going to want to keep me there. At least until, oh, say, six o’clock tomorrow evening. Don’t you get that feeling? Kind of like clairvoyance?’

‘I have no clue.’

‘I do,’ I said sharply. ‘You think I didn’t see this coming? Levistus wants me dead.’

‘It doesn’t matter what he wants,’ Caldera said. ‘Levistus doesn’t run the Keepers.’

‘The Council does!’

‘Look, Alex,’ Caldera said. ‘Stop with the voice in the wilderness shit, all right? You’ve got people you know with the Keepers and with the Council. Me, Landis, Rain, a bunch of others. They want to pass an execution order against you? Then we’ll fight it. But they’re not going to listen to you unless you’re working with the system. You run, you’re just proving them right.’

‘You haven’t been keeping up,’ I said. ‘They don’t want to pass an execution order. They’ve already done it. Tomorrow at six, it goes public. Are you going to carry it out?’

‘No.’

‘But you’re fine with arresting me so someone else can?’ I shook my head. I was letting myself get distracted. While Caldera kept me talking, other lifts were on their way up with reinforcements. ‘I’m guessing you’re not planning to let me go.’

‘Not an option, all right?’ Caldera said. ‘Look, Alex, there’s a full Keeper team here already. The building was sealed off twenty minutes ago, and you can’t fly. The only way you’re leaving this roof is with me.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said lightly. I slid my hand into my pocket as I spoke. ‘Everyone can fly. Just not for very long.’

Caldera caught the motion. Her stance shifted, and her voice took on a warning note. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’

‘Like what? Go down with you into custody of an organisation that’s about to have me killed?’

‘You need to—’

Behind Caldera, one of the lifts climbed into view. ‘Sorry, Caldera,’ I said. ‘Got to go.’

Caldera lunged, but she wasn’t close enough. I got my foot on the railing and leaped into space.

Being a diviner is all about being prepared.

I hadn’t expected to be attacked at the journeyman tests. At least, not specifically. But it had occurred to me a while ago that if Levistus or some other people on the Council wanted to make sure that my execution went through smoothly, then the most logical thing for them to do would be to arrest me before the resolution was due to pass. And given that journeyman tests are a matter of public record, then from their point of view, that was the best place to catch me. So when I’d decided to come here, I’d taken some time to consider avenues of escape. The lifts were the best way out but they were controlled by Council security, and I didn’t trust the Council. Which was why I’d brought the life ring.

Interesting thing about falling: it seems to be one of those things that short-circuits the higher brain functions. My life rings are small bands of metal and glass, imbued with an air magic spell that cuts your falling speed down to a comfortable ten feet per second. They’re very reliable, and they have to be, given what they’re used for. I’ve used life rings at least a dozen times before, and I know that they work. When I’d picked up this particular life ring yesterday, I’d taken the time to look into the futures in which I used it to make sure it’d still work. And just to be sure, while I’d been talking to Caldera, I’d checked yet again.

None of that made the drop any less terrifying.

Icy wind howled past as I fell, the coat Anne had given me flapping around my legs, the windows of Canary Wharf flashing past, flick-flick-flick. My stomach lurched in that weightless feeling, light and nauseated at the same time, but it had to fight to get my attention over the animal side of my brain which was screaming oh God oh God you’re going to die you’re going to die over and over again. My right hand clutched the life ring in a death grip; intellectually I knew that if I triggered it too soon the spell would run out while I was still in the air, but it took all my willpower not to. The street below grew closer and closer, cars and road and pavement growing larger with frightening speed. I could see the spot of road I was heading for and my mind was painting a vivid and horrible picture of my body splattering on to it like a watermelon hit by a sledgehammer. It takes a little over six seconds to fall seven hundred feet, and while it doesn’t exactly feel longer, I can say for a fact that you get an awful lot of sensory experience packed into that short time.

I hit the future in which I needed to activate the life ring, and my fist spasmed shut, crushing the item to fragments. Air magic leaped out and the impact of the deceleration felt like a powerful blow that didn’t stop spreading out over all of my body. My vision went red, pressure spiking inside me, then, as suddenly as it had come, it was receding and I was sinking down just above street level. I hit the centre of the road with both feet and went down to one knee, breathing hard.

There was the sound of brakes, followed by the noise of a car jerking to a stop. I looked up, and saw a black cab stopped a little way in front of me. The driver was clearly visible through the windscreen, and he was staring at me with his mouth open. I pulled myself to my feet, my legs shaky, and started to run.

It doesn’t look like it from below, but Canary Wharf is close to being an island: the old docks interlace the area with so many channels that it’s like a miniature peninsula. I knew that the only ways out of the area were west towards Westferry or east to Blackwall. West was closer. I ran along the edge of the road, girders flying by overhead, mentally checking off the laws I was breaking. Resisting arrest by legitimate agents of the Council: that was the first clause of the Concord. Dropping out of the sky in front of motorists broke the fourth. Hadn’t broken the second clause so far, since I hadn’t actually attacked any mages yet, but the day was still young—

Contact. Two men appeared ahead, running towards me, one of them raising a hand to his ear. I changed direction instantly, running up the stairs into the Cabot Place shopping centre.

Pedestrians and shoppers jumped out of the way as I dashed through the mall. The men on my tail weren’t far behind, and from one future I glimpsed I was pretty sure at least one was a Keeper. I needed a way to lose them, and flicked though the futures ahead of me. Hiding in the shops – no. Outrunning – no. A sign appeared up ahead telling me that I was heading into Canary Wharf DLR station, and that gave me an idea. Just needed a train with the right timing … there. I changed direction and ran up a flight of stairs.

The station was crowded, men and women and children scattered across the platforms, carrying coats and shopping bags. A DLR train was sitting in the centre of the station, about to leave for Stratford. I ran up the platform, then slowed, deliberately hanging back a little to let my pursuers catch up. Glancing back, I saw them run up the stairs. I waited a couple of seconds to let them see me, then turned left and stepped on to the train.

I’d timed it very carefully. The doors began beeping, signalling that the train was about to leave. The two men pursuing me raced for the train and jumped on to it, but it was crowded and they lost sight of me. It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough. As the doors began to close, I stepped out of the train on to the platform on the other side; the doors shut behind me with a thump and I fell into step with the crowd, walking down the stairs back into the shopping centre. On the train the two men would be pushing their way through the crowds, searching for me; the next station was less than a minute away and it wouldn’t take them long to figure out what I’d done, but by then I’d be gone.

I moved through the shopping centre and left by the west exit, coming out on to a raised square paved with tiles that circled a flat, round fountain carved from grey stone. I kept searching the futures as I walked, looking into the possibilities in which I went back, tracking my pursuers. The Keepers were spreading out from Canary Wharf, trying to find me, but I was outside their radius now and moving faster than they could. As long as there weren’t … shit.

I looked back over my shoulder to see Caldera about a hundred feet back. Our eyes met and she broke into a run.

I ran along the pavement of West India Avenue, tracking futures in my head. How did she get down to ground level so fast? Oh right. Elemental mage. Caldera must have gated nearby, and either she’d been vectored in by those two or she’d guessed which direction I was going in. Now I had a problem. I’m faster than Caldera, but not by much. I could lose her in a foot chase, but as soon as I did she’d just call in more backup. I needed to find a way to shake her, and it would have to be something extreme. Caldera might not be on the level of Landis or Vihaela, but she’s still a heavy hitter and more than a match for me. I looked ahead: we were coming up on Westferry Circus, and a plan jumped fully formed into my mind. That could work.

I slowed down, conserving my strength. From behind I could sense Caldera getting closer; fifty feet, then forty. Westferry Circus opened up in front of me, a circular green surrounded by a busy road junction. I dodged a couple walking along the pavement to cross the road, then crossed again, heading for a long stone barrier that I knew had a drop on the other side.

Heavy footsteps and my precognition warned me. I jinked and doubled back as Caldera lunged, and she stumbled past and thudded into the stone. As she turned I vaulted up on to the barrier, taking a glance down at the drop on my right. Thirty feet down to paving stones, interrupted by the white light fixtures mounted on the sheer wall. Only a fraction of the last drop, but still enough to break a leg or an ankle. Beside the paving stones, a double-lane road disappeared into the darkness underneath the roundabout, cars passing back and forth.

Caldera glared at me. ‘Will you stop frigging running and just talk?’

‘Stop chasing me and you can talk as much as you want.’

‘Listen, right now I am one of very few people trying to help you,’ Caldera said. ‘You want to do this the easy way or the hard way?’

‘Hmm,’ I said. ‘Let me think.’ I crouched down, then before Caldera could react I hopped backwards off the barrier.

I twisted in mid-air, catching myself on the barrier edge then dropping down, with a clang on to one of the light fixtures. I lowered myself by my hands, smelling dust and car exhaust, feeling the grime under my fingers, then let myself fall again, kicking off from the wall; I hit the pavement, feeling the shock of pain from my feet and shoulder as I rolled.

Caldera hit the pavement behind me with a wham, going down to one knee with the impact before getting up. I could see cracks in the pavement under her boots. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘You are starting to piss me off.’

I ran into the tunnel. The road under Westferry Circus is a wide roundabout, roofed and walled in concrete, with pillars running along the ceiling. Cars and lorries zoomed by, but the pavement was empty; this was a place for vehicles, not people.

Caldera caught me up by one of the pillars, and again I dodged just as she lunged. She turned on me, hands by her sides. ‘All right, Alex,’ Caldera said. ‘I didn’t want to play it this way, but you aren’t going to be the first mage who’s made it come to this.’

‘Come to what? Wanting to stay alive?’

Caldera lunged, and again I slipped aside. ‘You’re getting slow,’ I said.

I could tell from Caldera’s face that she was angry. Good. She came in again, slower this time, pacing forward with hands spread. She was going to try to grapple and turn this into a wrestling match, and I knew that if she did, I’d lose. Caldera grabbed at me, first once, then again and again. I blocked some, backed away from the others, giving ground. Caldera tried a charge, head down and arms wide, the same way she’d taken me down in our first duel. I ducked around one of the pillars and Caldera bounced off the stone. ‘Not this time,’ I said.

‘How long are you going to drag this out?’ Caldera said. ‘You know damn well you’re not going to win this.’

‘Funny,’ I said. ‘I don’t remember you beating me in any of our matches.’

Caldera stared at me. ‘You actually believe that?’

I shrugged. ‘You never knocked me out.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Caldera said. ‘I haven’t knocked you out because I don’t want to break every bone in your body.’

‘You can tell yourself that.’

Caldera attacked again. I blocked and countered, hitting her in the head and body. It felt like hitting a stone wall. My hands were already aching, while I knew that Caldera was doing just fine. Caldera charged again, and again I sent her crashing into the wall. ‘FYI, you’re losing on points,’ I told her.

Caldera turned on me, her face set. ‘You think this is a game, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’ I made my voice hard, contemptuous. No room for hesitation now. ‘It is a game. And you’re one of the pieces.’ I looked at her. ‘Do you even know why this is happening? Who passed this order, and why? You go where the Council tells you to go, kill who they tell you to kill.’ I paused, shook my head. ‘You aren’t even smart enough to know when you’re being used.’

Caldera stared at me, her eyes chips of dark stone, then attacked again, harder this time. I blocked and dodged, steadily giving ground. Caldera is stronger and tougher than me, but she’s not any faster than me, and by using the pillars as cover to break up her attacks I was able to keep her at a distance.

The exchange ended with us facing each other between the pillars. A car came around the roundabout and slowed slightly as it went by, a white face peering out at us through the window, then it accelerated away. ‘You are just putting off the inevitable,’ Caldera said tightly.

I felt a flash of shame for what I was about to do but pushed it down. Had to be cold. ‘You don’t understand anything about the people you work for,’ I said. ‘That’s why you’ve never been promoted, and why you never will be. You’ll always be a journeyman, while every other Keeper you’ve ever known is raised above you.’

Caldera stopped dead.

Caldera isn’t the share-your-feelings type, and for all the time we’d spent together, she’d never opened up to me. She’d never told me how many times she’d been passed over for promotion, nor how much it affected her. But if there’s one thing diviners are good at, it’s finding things out. I knew that for Caldera, her job was all she had, and I knew that she was years past the point where Keepers are usually noticed and groomed for the higher ranks. She was afraid that they didn’t think she was good enough, and that she’d be sidelined and forgotten. I’d found her weakest point and struck at it, just as I’d been taught.

‘Do you have any idea how much shit I’ve done for you?’ Caldera said. Her voice was quiet, but rage was building behind her eyes, and I knew she was right on the edge of losing control. ‘I’ve defended you to other Keepers. I’ve talked you up to Rain. I’ve bodyguarded your arse through one mission after another. But you can’t dial back that fucking ego, can you? You don’t give a shit about the law. You think the rules don’t apply to you.’

‘Actually, I—’

Caldera moved in a blur of motion. I jumped back just in time from a blow that would have broken my ribs. ‘Shut up.’ Caldera’s voice was a hiss. She struck at my chest, then moved in, words spilling out. ‘Always you want to show everyone else how smart you are. How tough you are. Then when it’s time to pay the bill, you get someone else to do it.’ Caldera struck again, sending a shock of pain up my arm as I blocked. ‘I could have broken you in half the first time we met. Could have done it every time you stepped in the ring. But I held back.’ Caldera struck a third time. ‘But you can’t see that, because you’re so … fucking … full of yourself.’

Caldera delivered another punch with each word. I managed to block each one, my guard posture exactly calculated to minimise the amount of damage I took. It still felt like being kicked by a horse. The second-to-last blow staggered me; the third one slammed me back into the wall.

‘Now,’ Caldera said. She was breathing hard, eyes blazing, fury underlining each word. ‘You are coming back with me. You can choose whether you come walking, or beaten to crap and in handcuffs. But you do not get to choose anything else. Because I am sick of your shit. Understand?’

I pulled myself to my feet as another car zoomed by. My body hurt in a dozen places, muscle and bone aching. It had been a long time since I’d been hit that hard. I’ve seen Caldera’s strength in action, but it’s another thing to feel it. ‘I always knew you were holding back,’ I said. ‘So was I.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘Just not the way you think.’ I braced myself against the wall. ‘Want to know how I beat mages who are stronger than me?’

As Caldera started to answer, I lunged, kicking off the stone. She didn’t have her guard up, and I hit her with an open-palm strike right in the centre of the face. Against any normal person, it would have broken their nose. It didn’t break Caldera’s, but I knew it would hurt like hell.

Caldera lost her temper completely.

A swinging punch came at me with enough force to shatter my skull. I ducked underneath and dashed out across the road. Caldera charged after me in a blind rage.

The container lorry was a twelve-wheeler, painted white and orange with the Sainsbury’s logo on the side, and it came around the curve of the roundabout moving fast. The driver saw us as soon as we ran out in front of him and stomped on the brake pedal. Tyres met brakes with a horrible scream, but it takes a lot of energy to stop a vehicle that big. The front cab missed me by a few feet and hit Caldera square on.

It was all over very fast. There was a noise somewhere between a thud and a crunch, mixed with the screech of brakes, followed by the sound of a rolling body. I came to a halt and looked around to see Caldera about fifty feet away, rolling over and over before coming to a stop. She stirred, groggy, as the lorry bore down on her; it finally scraped to a halt about ten feet away from running her over. After all the noise, there was a sudden silence.

‘I cheat,’ I said quietly into the vacuum. ‘Sorry.’ There was a sign for a garage off to the right, along with a side road that I knew would have stairs leading up. By the time Caldera had recovered enough to lift her head, I was out of sight.