Burned

8

I dropped my gear back at the safe house in Wales, then checked in with Anne, who told me that she was fine, that Variam was with her, and that Sonder had gone in to Keeper HQ. The two hours I’d promised Caldera were up, and I didn’t want to waste any more time. I gated back to London and hurried to join Sonder.

The headquarters of the Keepers of the Order of the Star and the Order of the Shield is in Westminster, an old Victorian building with carvings on the outside and ugly brown walls on the inside. I never used to have much to do with the place, but since I became an auxiliary member of the Order of the Star last winter I’ve been in and out pretty often. It might have been my imagination, but as I walked down the hallway, I had the sense that the place felt busier than usual. The noise from the offices was louder and there were more people in the halls. No one gave me any second glances – apparently news of my death sentence hadn’t had time to spread. The Keepers work for the Council, but they tend to be too busy with their cases to be very well informed about what’s going on within the higher ranks. I found Caldera’s office, knocked and entered at the ‘Come in!’

Caldera’s office looks pretty much like that of any other cop, papers and clutter scattered across a pair of coffee-stained desks. Caldera used to share the place with another Keeper named Haken, but their relationship took a nosedive around the same time I became an auxiliary, and Caldera hasn’t got another partner since. In the absence of anyone telling me not to, I’d taken to using the second desk myself. Right now the office was occupied by three people. One was Sonder, sitting in my spot: he gave me a glance then looked back at the man sitting in the spare chair.

Caldera was sitting behind her desk, a beefy woman in her thirties with thick powerful arms. ‘You’re late,’ she told me as I walked in.

From the tone of voice and her conversation earlier, I gathered that not only had Caldera not heard about my situation with Levistus, but that Sonder hadn’t told her either. ‘Busy morning,’ I said.

‘At least you’re here,’ Caldera said. ‘Pull up a seat.’

‘So the briefing on the op was this morning, right?’ I said, sitting down.

‘Yeah, about that,’ Caldera said. She nodded at the man sitting in front of the desk. ‘Captain?’

‘There’s been a change of plans,’ the man said. His name was Rain, a tall, fit-looking man with dark skin and close-shaven black hair. Rain is Caldera’s immediate superior in the Order of the Star, which in practical terms makes him our boss. I’m not close to Rain, but over the past year I’d come to like him; he’s got a no-bullshit manner which I find refreshing. ‘How much do you know about the situation?’

‘There’s another relic weapon sealed up in a bubble,’ I said. ‘Drakh wants it and so does the Council, the bubble’s going to open at some point in the next few days and you’re the one who’s got the job of pulling it out when it does.’

Rain glanced at Caldera.

Caldera shrugged. ‘I didn’t tell him.’

‘You’re pretty well informed about something that’s supposed to be a secret,’ Rain said. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. All of what you say’s correct. The time in question is tomorrow evening. The operation is going to commence at 4 p.m. Be here in the morning.’

I nodded.

‘However, that’s not why I’ve called you here,’ Rain said. ‘As you know, Drakh wants that weapon. Our most recent intelligence indicates that he is intending to dedicate significant forces towards retrieving it. Initial estimates put the numbers of his recovery team at ten to fifteen Dark mages.’

I raised my eyebrows. It wasn’t really a surprise, but I figured I should act the part.

Sonder looked startled. ‘That’s got to be a mistake.’

‘Actually, that was the low-end guess,’ Rain said.

‘But Dark mages never work together in those numbers,’ Sonder said. ‘The most we see in a cabal is four or five.’

‘I’m just passing on what I’m told,’ Rain said. ‘Apparently the intelligence analysts have finally started taking Drakh seriously.’

‘I thought they weren’t even sure he was still alive?’

‘Seems they’ve changed their minds about that too.’ Rain looked at me. ‘For obvious reasons, the Council don’t want to kick off with a Dark cabal that big. I’ve been asked to explore the possibility of a negotiated settlement.’

‘Okay,’ I said. I was getting the nasty feeling I knew where this was going.

‘We’ve made overtures through neutral parties to mages we believe to be members of Drakh’s cabal,’ Rain said. ‘They’ve agreed to a meeting this evening in the Barbican. Both parties are allowed to bring no more than two members.’ Rain looked between me and Sonder. ‘I want to send you.’

‘What?’ Sonder said. ‘Why?’

‘Because we’re not Keepers,’ I said. I didn’t take my eyes off Rain. ‘If word gets out that the Council are negotiating with a Dark mage, it’ll hurt their image. They’re supposed to be the ones in charge, not Drakh. If they have to get his agreement, instead of just dictating to him…’

‘That’s about the size of it,’ Rain agreed. ‘Apparently the Council think that sending Keepers to negotiate with Drakh’s agents would send the wrong message.’

‘So having us go gives what? Plausible deniability?’

‘Pretty much.’

‘It’s not going to work,’ I said. ‘We’re still Keeper auxiliaries. Dark mages won’t make any distinction between us and full Keepers. They’ll see it as just as much of a sign of weakness as if you’d gone yourself. Actually, they’ll probably see it as more of a sign of weakness than if you’d gone yourself.’

‘Yeah, well, these are the orders I’ve got,’ Rain said. ‘You can send an official protest, but I wouldn’t waste your time. However, since neither of you are full Keepers, I can’t order you. This is volunteer only.’

Sonder and I looked at each other. Sonder didn’t look all that happy, and I couldn’t blame him. This had all the earmarks of an operation run by Council bureaucracy. ‘Why us?’ Sonder asked. ‘Why not pick a mind or charm mage or something?’

‘The choice was left to my discretion,’ Rain said. ‘I’m choosing you.’

‘Why?’ I said.

‘Because Dark mages don’t trust Light mages,’ Rain said. ‘And when they’re dealing with people they don’t trust, they’ve got a habit of shooting first and asking questions later. The only Light mages they do trust, even the tiniest bit, are ones they have a personal connection with. Which brings us to you.’

My heart sank. Oh great.

Sonder looked confused. ‘Personal—?’

‘The two mages we’re going to be negotiating with are called Cinder and Deleo.’ Rain looked between us. ‘I understand you know them.’

‘I don’t—’ Sonder began, and then stopped.

A few years ago, Sonder and I got involved in a messy little business involving a Light mage named Belthas. Belthas had been after a new technique for draining the life and magic from the dwindling number of magical creatures in our world, and I got between him and what he wanted. Belthas lost the argument in a very final way, which (given that he’d been one of Levistus’s closer allies) had almost certainly been a major contributing factor to the situation I was in right now. For complicated reasons, that same battle had also led to me and Sonder working with Cinder to rescue Deleo, aka my ex-fellow apprentice Rachel.

All this had been back in Sonder’s rebellious phase, before he decided to throw in his lot with the Council. From the expression on his face, it was obvious he wasn’t comfortable being reminded. From the expression on Rain’s face, it was obvious that he knew about our past history, or at least who it involved. The fact that he wasn’t pressuring us implied that he wasn’t trying to use it as leverage, but pleading ignorance wasn’t going to work.

‘We don’t have time for you to chew it over, Sonder,’ Rain said. ‘If you say no, I’ll need to find someone else, and fast. Are you in or out?’

Sonder took a few seconds to answer, and I could see from the switching futures that he was making up his mind. ‘In,’ he said at last.

Rain looked at me. ‘Verus?’

Much as I hated the prospect of coming face to face with Rachel, I really didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to make a good impression if I wanted that vote from Undaaris, and Rain would be the one submitting the report. ‘I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled to be dealing with those two, but you’re right, they probably will react better to us than other auxiliaries. Not that that’s saying much.’ I shrugged. ‘Actually, I kind of appreciate that you trust me enough to give me the job.’

‘You haven’t given me any reason not to,’ Rain said. ‘Keep it that way and we’ll be fine. I understand there was some trouble this morning?’

‘Someone tried to assassinate me and burned down my house.’

‘Are you still in danger?’

‘Probably,’ I said. ‘If you could spare Caldera, it’d help.’

Rain glanced at Caldera.

‘I’m going to be babysitting them anyway, right?’ Caldera said with a shrug. ‘When do you want us back?’

‘The meeting with Cinder and Deleo is at eight,’ Rain said. ‘Be here for the briefing at six.’ He looked between us. ‘Anything else?’

I shook my head. Sonder did the same.

‘Then I’ll let you get to it. Good luck.’ Rain stood and walked out.

Caldera turned to me. ‘All right, what the hell have you got yourself into this time?’

‘I wish I knew. I’ve only got half of it.’

‘Then tell me that half.’

‘Over the past few days I’ve been hassled by mages and adepts with ties to the Crusader faction,’ I said. ‘I don’t know who’s sending them, but they know about Rain’s operation, and for some reason they’re convinced I’m working for Richard.’

‘Who were the attackers?’

I shook my head. ‘The only one I got a close look at was the fire mage, and he had a flame shield. The best lead I’ve got is a mage called Symmaris. She called the day before and warned me off. When I told her to get lost, this happened.’

Caldera frowned. ‘So what, they think you’re trying to retrieve the relic, but you’re on Richard’s team?’

‘Yes,’ I said in frustration. ‘And it doesn’t make any bloody sense. Even if I was working for Richard, I’d probably be the least powerful mage he had. Why go after me?’

‘Have you got any proof that it was really Light mages?’ Sonder asked.

‘No. And before you ask, I don’t have any proof that it was Symmaris either, except for the fact that someone on the other team was using gates really damn well.’

‘Anyone else you’ve pissed off recently?’ Caldera asked.

I hesitated. If I was going to bring up the topic of my death sentence, this would be the time to do it. It was tempting to come clean. Over the past year I’d come to trust Caldera, and she’s a good person to have in your corner.

But in this case, I wasn’t at all sure she would be in my corner. Caldera might be one of the good guys, but she follows Council law, and according to Council law, right now, I was an enemy. Once that resolution was passed, as a Light Keeper, Caldera would be duty-bound to bring me in. And I knew Caldera. She’d do her job, no matter what.

But I didn’t want to lie to her either. ‘There’s something else,’ I said. ‘I just can’t tell you what it is.’

Caldera frowned. ‘Alex, if this relates to what’s going on—’

‘It’s not that I don’t want to, I literally can’t,’ I said. ‘It’s covered by Council secrecy.’ Which was true. ‘All I can tell you is that it’s the reason I’m on this job in the first place. I’m guessing you already noticed I didn’t get called in the usual way.’

‘Had been going to ask you about that, yeah.’ Caldera looked at me, but I already knew that she wouldn’t push it further. ‘Does it relate to last night’s attack?’

‘Not directly, as far as I know.’ Which was also true. I was pretty sure that it was Symmaris and her friends who’d been behind the assassination attempt, even if I couldn’t prove it.

There was an awkward silence. ‘All right,’ Caldera said at last, and got to her feet. ‘Let’s go see if we can find these new friends of yours.’

On my suggestion, our first stop was the room in the building opposite my shop, where the fire mage had launched his initial attack. It was still in the cordon, and I didn’t particularly want to deal with the police again, so Sonder and I waited nearby while Caldera talked her way in. Once she was alone in the room, she opened up a gate and the two of us stepped through.

‘Your work, I’m guessing,’ Caldera said as she closed the gate behind us.

‘They started it,’ I said. Grenades make quite a mess. The walls had been shredded by shrapnel, and feathers from the ruined bedding were everywhere.

‘Sonder?’ Caldera said. ‘What are you getting?’

‘Give me a sec,’ Sonder said, frowning as he stared into space. Sonder is a time mage, and his speciality is timesight, the ability to look back through past events in your current location. Most time mages can do it, but Sonder’s particularly good at it. For obvious reasons it’s a highly in-demand skill among Keepers, which is one of the reasons Sonder’s become quite successful in his career.

I nodded down at the feathers. ‘Any bloodstains?’

‘The cops got a few,’ Caldera said. ‘They’ll be in the lab for analysis.’

‘Any chance we could get them?’

‘Not for at least twenty-four hours.’

‘Eh,’ I said. There are some powerful tracking spells you can pull off if you have a piece of the target’s body, but that was too long. ‘They’ll have used an annuller by then.’

Sonder stirred. ‘Anything?’ Caldera asked.

‘Just glimpses,’ Sonder said. ‘They were using a shroud. And a radio, giving directions, I think. One of them gated out, the explosion went off and wounded the other, he called for help, then he gated away too.’

‘Any ID on the mages?’

Sonder shook his head. ‘Shadow masks.’

‘Guess we can’t expect them to be stupid all the time.’ Caldera held up her hand and brown light gathered around it as she started working on another gate. ‘You guys head back before those guys start wondering why I’m talking to myself. I’ll meet you at the park.’

Caldera’s gate led us back to the park we’d arrived from. It was the same one I’d used earlier in the day: a small secluded circle of greenery fenced in by high buildings, with tree cover heavy enough to hide a gate spell, even in winter. I stepped down on to the hard earth and waited as Sonder came through behind me. The gate winked out, leaving us alone.

‘When are you going to tell her?’ Sonder asked.

I sighed. ‘Hopefully never.’

Sonder frowned. ‘That’s not—’

‘If everything goes to plan, the resolution won’t pass,’ I said. ‘It fails and goes into the archives in a file marked “Secret”. If things don’t go to plan, then Caldera’s going to be the least of my worries. Either way, I don’t see how telling her about something that is illegal for us to know is going to help very much, given that the first thing she’d be obliged to do would be to prosecute us for breaking Council secrecy.’

‘What if it turns out it was Levistus who sent those men?’ Sonder asked.

‘It wasn’t Levistus.’

‘How do you—?’

‘Because Levistus has me under a death sentence.’ I tried not to let my impatience show. Sonder is intelligent, but he’s no strategist. ‘There is absolutely no reason for him to work this hard to get me killed when as far as he knows he only has to wait a few days and the Keepers will do it for him.’

‘Caldera is going to find out sooner or later.’

‘Yeah, she is,’ I said. ‘So if you’re so keen on making sure she’s informed, why haven’t you told her already?’

‘Me? Why?’

‘Why not?’ I said. ‘If you care that much.’

Sonder was silent.

I looked at Sonder. The winter sky was overcast and the light filtering through the clouds made him look older than he was, but to my eyes he still looked young. ‘You know, Sonder,’ I said, ‘one of these days, you’re going to have to figure out whose side you’re on.’

Sonder gave me a sideways look. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that if you keep sitting on the fence, then sooner or later someone is going to come along and push you off.’

‘I just work for the Council,’ Sonder said. ‘I don’t want to take sides.’

‘Yeah, well, “the Council” isn’t one side,’ I said. ‘Why do you think they have so much trouble dealing with mages like Richard? If they had their act together they’d be telling him to back the hell off. But they can’t, because they spend too much time fighting among each other and going after people like me.’ I shrugged. ‘They’re going to fall apart at this rate. When you’ve got people like Levistus running the show, it doesn’t matter that you’ve got people like Caldera lower down.’

The crunch of footsteps announced Caldera’s arrival, and we both turned to look. ‘Well, looks like your hunch was right,’ Caldera said to me as she walked up. ‘The three bodies in the stairwell were too badly burned to ID, but the cops have managed to finger one of the ones they found on the roof. He was a low-level thug with ties to some of the more radical Crusader groups. Good bet the others are the same.’

‘Have you got any leads on Symmaris?’

‘We’ve got her address in Kew. What are you planning to do with it?’

‘Go over there and shake her down a bit.’

‘We haven’t got enough for an arrest.’

‘I know.’

Caldera gave me a curious look. ‘What are you hoping for? Rattling the tree to see what falls out?’

‘It’s worth a shot, but I’ve got something else in mind.’

‘Do you still need me?’ Sonder asked.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ll explain along the way.’

Kew Gardens is to the south-west of London what Hampstead is to the north: pretty, clean air, lots of trees and flowers and incredibly expensive. Symmaris’s house was on a corner and looked bigger and more spacious than the norm, set slightly back from the street but still not all that excessive by mage standards. There was a front garden with a hedge.

‘Okay,’ I said. The three of us were at the end of the road, out of sight. The street was empty, with the vaguely deserted feel that the middle-class parts of London always seem to have during the daytime. ‘Caldera, you’ve got enough links to Symmaris to justify a visit, right?’

‘Sure.’

‘So here’s the plan. The three of us go in and you and I question her. I figure that just seeing me there is going to scare her. Important thing is that we make sure that we do it in whichever room she uses for day-to-day activities.’

‘Okay…’

‘Now, I don’t know if we’ll get anything,’ I said. ‘If we do, that’s a bonus, but it’s optional. The idea is to rattle her. We get her scared, then we leave.’

Caldera looked slightly puzzled. ‘How does that help?’

‘The impression I’ve got of Symmaris is that she’s not exactly brave. And she’s nowhere near the top of the food chain; she’s working on someone else’s orders. If we scare her enough, there’s a good chance that the first thing she’ll do is go call her boss. Right?’

‘I guess.’

‘So once we’re out of the house, we wait. I’ll use my divination and look through the futures in which we go back. Once I’ve got a fix, we go back for another talk. You say that there’s something you forgot to ask.’ I turned to Sonder. ‘That’s where you come in. While Caldera and I are talking to her, you use your timesight and look back at what’s happened in the room. With a bit of luck you should be able to make out the details of her conversation. You can figure out who her boss is, and maybe get something incriminating.’

‘The room’s going to be warded,’ Sonder said.

‘Against scrying, sure. Maybe not against timesight.’

‘It’ll be both,’ Sonder said. ‘I mean, time and space magic overlap anyway, it’s not exactly hard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Light mage’s house that doesn’t have timesight wards.’

‘Okay, that makes it harder, but your timesight’s pretty good. It’s exponentially easier to see through a temporal shroud the closer that period is to the present, right?’

‘Technically it’s not an exponential relationship. It’s more like—’

‘You get the idea.’

Sonder thought for a second. ‘As long as the wards aren’t stronger than average, and as long as it’s within ten or fifteen minutes, I should be able get a clear read. Any longer than that and I might start losing fragments. Also, I’ll need to know where to look.’

I nodded. ‘So we need some way to make sure that when she has that conversation, it’s at a location we can reach.’

Caldera was looking unimpressed. ‘You don’t know that she is going to have that conversation. And even if she does, her boss isn’t likely to say anything incriminating over the phone. If he’s smart, he won’t even be using a phone.’

‘But there’s a good chance she’ll let something slip.’

‘She might not,’ Sonder said. ‘I mean, if she’s that scared, she might just run away or something.’

‘Yeah, let’s just keep it simple,’ Caldera said. ‘Take a look at her garden for me.’

I blinked. ‘Say again?’

‘That front garden,’ Caldera said. ‘Use your divination and tell me what it looks like.’

I gave Caldera a puzzled look, then examined the futures in which I walked down the road and pushed open the gate. ‘Okay, so … it’s a garden. Decent-sized hedge, some shrubs, and there are creepers growing on trellises. And there’s a fountain. What am I looking for?’

‘How neat does it look?’

‘Pretty neat, I guess.’

‘How about the house? Same way?’

‘Yeah.’ I looked at Caldera curiously. ‘Why?’

‘All right, let’s go,’ Caldera said. She started walking down the road.

I looked at Sonder, who shrugged. We followed Caldera.

Symmaris’s garden was nice. It would have been prettier if it weren’t midwinter, but even so, the wisteria climbing through the trellis looked well tended, and the grass was perfectly smooth. Caldera marched straight up the path to the front door and rang the bell.

There was a long silence, then the intercom clicked. ‘Hello?’

‘Mage Symmaris?’ Caldera asked.

‘Who is this?’

‘I’m Keeper Caldera of the Order of the Star. We’d like to ask you a few questions.’

There was a pause. ‘What about?’

‘Open the door, please.’

The intercom was silent for a moment as Symmaris hesitated again. ‘This isn’t a very good time…’

‘Mage Symmaris, we’re here on a Council investigation,’ Caldera said. ‘There are two ways this can go. Either you come out and talk to us, or you get a new door.’

My eyebrows climbed at that. While Caldera had been talking I’d been studying the wards on the house, and they were heavy-duty: the standard gate protections, as well as the shrouds that Sonder had been referring to, but there were reinforcement and attack wards as well. If Caldera tried to smash the door down I did not want to be in the blast radius. ‘Uh, Caldera?’ I murmured. ‘I don’t think—’

Caldera held up a finger to silence me. ‘Well?’ she said into the intercom.

‘Wait! Wait!’

‘You going to let us in?’

‘Give me a second!’

Caldera looked back at me. ‘She coming?’

I looked into the futures. ‘Yeah. About two minutes.’

We stood on the cold doorstep. Two minutes and twenty seconds later, there was the scrape of metal as a viewing slot opened in the door. ‘Can I— I mean, I want you to show me your signet.’

Caldera complied, holding up the leather wallet that concealed her symbol of office. There was a pause. ‘All right,’ Symmaris said hesitantly.

‘Open the door, please,’ Caldera said again.

To my surprise, Symmaris obeyed. The door swung open to reveal a neatly decorated hall with a mirror, hanging rugs and dainty-looking ornaments lined up on shelves. Symmaris was several steps back from the door, and as she saw me her eyes went wide. I’d deliberately stayed off to the side and out of the field of vision of the door slot and the hidden camera I’d spotted at the top of the porch. ‘You!’ Symmaris said.

‘Hello, Mage Symmaris,’ Caldera said. ‘How are you doing today?’

Symmaris pointed at me. ‘What’s he doing here?’

‘Mage Verus is a Keeper auxiliary,’ Caldera said. ‘He’s also not the one asking the questions. Are you aware that there was an incident involving a breach of the Concord last night?’

Symmaris seemed to be standing only a few feet away, within easy reach, but appearances were deceptive. There were wards ready to go; at least one was a force effect and … yes. If I lunged for her she’d say a command word and throw up a barrier blocking the entry hall. ‘What?’ Symmaris said.

‘An incident involving a breach of the Concord,’ Caldera said. ‘Know anything about it?’

‘I— No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Not the best piece of deception I’ve seen. Even if I hadn’t already been sure that Symmaris had been involved, the look on her face would have been enough to confirm it. ‘Were you in Camden Town last night, or involved in any way with mages operating there?’ Caldera asked.

‘No,’ Symmaris said. ‘Of course not.’

‘Mind telling me your whereabouts between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. this morning?’

‘What? Why?’

Caldera nodded. ‘Get your coat.’

Symmaris stared at her. ‘What?’

‘We’re going down to the station.’

‘What?’

‘We’re going down to the station,’ Caldera repeated. ‘We’d like to ask you a few questions.’

‘But—’ Symmaris looked scared. ‘I don’t—’

‘As I said, there was a breach of the Concord last night,’ Caldera said. ‘And now there are dead bodies to clear up. We take this sort of thing seriously.’

‘But what’s that got to do with me?’

‘Because the attack was made on Mage Verus’s place of residence,’ Caldera said. ‘The same location you visited two days ago and demanded that he…’ Caldera turned to me. ‘What was it again?’

‘Demanded that I leave the country,’ I said. ‘And implied that something unpleasant might happen if I didn’t.’

Symmaris was looking increasingly panicked. ‘That wasn’t what I said!’

‘Oh,’ I added. ‘And that was after she admitted to being the one who sent those adepts who tried to beat me up that night before.’

Caldera looked at Symmaris with raised eyebrows.

‘It wasn’t me! He’s lying!’

‘You can explain it down at the station,’ Caldera said. Behind us, Sonder was watching curiously.

‘No!’ Symmaris said. She pointed at me. ‘I’m not going with him! He wants to kill me!’

‘Then if it wasn’t you, who was it?’ Caldera said. All of a sudden her voice was hard. ‘You didn’t do it? Then tell me who did.’

Symmaris hesitated. ‘I …’

Caldera shook her head in disgust. ‘Get your coat.’

‘No, wait! I can’t!’

‘I’m not asking.’

‘I can’t go down to Keeper headquarters!’

‘Then give me something,’ Caldera said. ‘Because if I don’t have someone else to pull in, it’s going to be you.’

‘All right, all right!’ Symmaris held up her hands. ‘Off the record, okay?’

‘I don’t care about the record. I just want answers.’

‘All right.’ Symmaris took a deep breath. ‘It was Maradok. He came to me and said that I needed to convince Verus to stay away from Drakh.’

‘And then what?’ Caldera said. ‘You helped him gate in? Maybe some of his friends?’

‘No! I didn’t do anything like that. I mean I talked to Redman, and I went to meet with Verus, but that was it. All I did was call Maradok and pass on the message. If he— If anything happened after that, it was nothing to do with me.’

I stared at Symmaris. Her eyes shifted away, and I was quite sure that she was lying. Bullshit it’s nothing to do with you. Someone had been making those gates – someone who’d been familiar with the area around my shop – and I didn’t buy for a second that the Crusaders had somehow found another gate expert to bring in on the plan.

‘So why does Maradok want Verus gone?’ Caldera said.

‘Because he’s working with Drakh!’

‘And you know this because …?’

‘Because he’s going to be the one who does it.’ Symmaris pointed at me. ‘The relic that the Council’s looking for? Verus is the one who’s going to give it to Drakh!’

‘And how are you so sure?’

Symmaris threw up her hands. ‘I don’t know! You think Maradok tells me this stuff? Maybe he got it from a diviner or something. I don’t care.’

‘Okay, I am getting sick of this,’ I said. ‘I haven’t been working for Richard for—’

Caldera raised her hand, and I cut myself off with an effort. It was bad enough that Symmaris had had a hand in burning my house down, but trying to claim that it was justified …

‘Who was involved in the attack last night?’ Caldera said.

‘I don’t know,’ Symmaris said. But her eyes shifted again.

‘What did Maradok say when you last spoke to him?’

‘I haven’t heard from him. He doesn’t talk to me.’

‘Then why—?’

‘Look, I’ve told you everything I know,’ Symmaris broke in. ‘If you want to ask questions, go to Maradok, not me. He’s the one who has a problem with Verus. It’s nothing to do with me. I can’t— I’m not going with you. Goodbye!’

‘Caldera!’ I snapped.

Caldera’s much quicker than her bulk would suggest. She jumped back just as Symmaris made a gesture with her hand and the door slammed shut in our faces with a bang of metal on metal. Caldera steadied herself and looked at the closed door. It would have missed, but not by much. From within Symmaris’s house I heard the hurried patter of feet, then silence. The three of us were alone.

‘Well,’ Sonder said. ‘Okay, then.’

‘She going to answer if we try again?’ Caldera asked me.

I checked for a few seconds, exploring the possibilities thoroughly. ‘No. I think she’s gating.’ I looked at Caldera. ‘I can probably find a way through those wards.’

‘No.’ Caldera shook her head. ‘We’re done.’ She turned and walked away.

I caught up with Caldera as she reached the gate, Sonder hurrying after me. ‘We’re cashing out already?’

‘Can’t bring her in,’ Caldera said. She turned out on to the pavement and we followed. ‘She’d walk in a few hours, and there’d be hell to pay.’

‘Wait,’ Sonder said. ‘You just told her you were going to bring her in for questioning?’

Caldera gave Sonder a patient look.

‘You were bluffing?’ Sonder asked.

‘There is no way in hell Rain would authorise bringing her in on this evidence,’ Caldera said. ‘Not with this thing with Drakh on our plates. He’d tear my head off if I actually arrested her.’

‘Funny,’ I said dryly. ‘I’m pretty sure we’ve pulled adepts in for questioning with less than this.’

‘Says the guy who wanted to do a ludicrously complicated plan involving timesighting an imaginary conversation.’

‘All right,’ I admitted. ‘Your plan was better. How did you know to play it like that?’

‘You told me she was the jumpy type,’ Caldera said. ‘You saw how neat and tidy that house looked? People like that, best way to scare them is to threaten to take them out of their comfort zone.’

It wasn’t something I would have thought of, but this is why Caldera’s good at her job. I guess we’re all limited by our frames of thinking. I’m a diviner first and foremost, so when I come up against a problem, divination’s what I fall back on. But for all the Council’s weaknesses, a Keeper badge carries weight. To Light mages, the thought of coming under that kind of investigation is scary. Caldera understands how to use that much better than I do.

‘Who’s Maradok?’ I asked.

‘He,’ Caldera said, ‘is a problem.’

I looked at Sonder.

‘He’s with the Guardians,’ Sonder said. He looked worried. ‘Well, he’s supposed to have Crusader sympathies, but … He’s with Council intelligence. And he reports directly to Sal Sarque.’

‘To— Oh, shit.’ Sal Sarque was one of the three votes cast against me on the Senior Council. And according to Talisid, he was Levistus’s ally. This was just getting worse and worse.

‘There’s more,’ Caldera said. She didn’t look happy. ‘Maradok’s been detailed to the Keepers for tomorrow’s operation. He’s one of the mages involved in planning it.’

We were approaching the end of the road. I stopped, forcing Caldera and Sonder to pause and look at me. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Just heard from Rain this morning.’

‘The guy who wants me dead is in charge of planning the mission I’m going on?’

‘He doesn’t have operational command,’ Caldera said. ‘He’s just the liaison.’

I put a hand over my eyes. ‘You have got to be fucking kidding me.’

‘It’s time we got back for the briefing,’ Caldera said. ‘We’ll report to Rain once we’re there.’