Fallen

chapter 9

The summer morning had a hushed, expectant feel. It was near to dawn, and instead of being a steady stream, the traffic on the nearby motorway came in fits and starts, each car announcing its presence with a rumbling crescendo before passing with a whoosh of displaced air. The sky was clear, the deep blue of the night brightening in the east into the yellow of early morning.

I arrived five minutes early, letting the restaurant door swing closed behind me. The place was empty but for a couple of workmen eating breakfast. I bought a bottle of water and sat at the far end with my back to the wall.

Kyle arrived right on time, pausing in the doorway to scan the room. His eyes passed over me without stopping. Only when he’d covered the room twice did he go to the machine to order and then come to sit at my table. “Well?” he asked as he sat down.

Kyle is American, square-jawed and competent-looking, obviously fit. He’s a space magic adept and has a complicated relationship with Cinder where he might be Cinder’s property, partner, friend, or all of the above. He has good reason to dislike me, since back when we’d first met I’d personally killed one of his friends and had been complicit in the deaths of several more. Then again, exactly the same could be said of Cinder, so maybe Kyle wasn’t the type to hold grudges. At least, I hoped not. If he was, this had the potential to go really badly.

“No Cinder?” I asked.

“He’s busy.”

I studied Kyle. He looked leaner than he had been, and there was a scar at his temple that I didn’t remember seeing before. “And you’re not?”

“Busy enough that I don’t have time to sit around. What do you want?”

“I need your and Cinder’s help with a job.”

“What kind of job?”

“The dangerous kind.”

“So send in your Keepers and your lackeys,” Kyle said. “Why do you need us?”

“Guessing you haven’t been keeping up with the news.”

“Like I said, we’re busy,” Kyle said. “What happened, you and the Council fall out?”

“Let’s just say I’m short on people I can count on.”

Kyle snorted. “If you’re coming to us, you must really be desperate.”

“This is something you’re qualified for.”

“Okay, let’s hear it.”

“I need to break into Onyx’s mansion,” I said. “He’s got a gateway item that gives access to a bubble realm. I’m going to break into that too, get hold of the relic it’s protecting, then get out.”

Kyle raised his eyebrows and looked at me. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Kyle looked back at me for a moment. There was a chime from the counter. Kyle got up, went to get his food, came back, put his tray on the table, sat back down. He took a drink from his bottle of water and tapped it on the tray. “How many others?”

“Me and about two more.”

“That’s it?”

“There aren’t many people I trust with something like this.”

Kyle frowned. “Didn’t you go to Onyx’s place last year?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you know who you’re dealing with,” Kyle said. “It’s not just Onyx, it’s his whole faction. I mean, calling it a faction is pretty fucking generous, they’re more like a gang. But gangbangers can kill you as dead as anyone else, and I hung out there long enough to know that they’re nasty. Mixture of thugs and full-on psychopaths. And then there’s Onyx and Pyre. I know you guys on the Council don’t take Dark mages seriously, but you don’t want to fuck with them unless you outnumber them by a lot. And it sounds like you won’t.”

“We won’t.”

“What’s the timeframe?”

“Probably tonight.”

“Bad idea.”

“Yeah, I know. You think it’d be a better idea to plan things properly. Stake things out, get a feeling for the area, watch them and learn their patterns. I agree. Unfortunately I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because the longer I wait, the better the chance that the Council will show up.”

“Wait, how bad a falling-out did you have? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Probably wise,” I said. “So there are a bunch of reasons I’m coming to you guys. First, you both have history with Onyx. You know the area and you’ve apparently been in and out of his mansion before. You even tried to stage a rescue from the place. Secondly, last I checked, he and Pyre were your enemies too.”

“Doesn’t mean we want to kick his door down.”

“I’m not expecting you to do this for free,” I said. “I’m willing to offer you what I can. Money, favours, items. Whatever you want, as long as it’s something I can give.” I looked at Kyle. “I’m guessing you’re speaking for Cinder as well?”

“Yeah, about that,” Kyle said. “There’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Cinder’s not really in a position to help.”

“If it’s about payment—”

“Not about payment. You’re not the only one who’s had a falling-out lately.”

“With Deleo?”

“Guess news travels fast,” Kyle said. “Yeah, with her.”

“Is this you we’re talking about, or Cinder?”

“Oh, me and Deleo were never friends in the first place,” Kyle said. He touched his knee. “She’s the one who took my leg, and she’d have finished the job if not for Cinder. When he said he was making me his bondsman, she held off, but it was just holding off. Cinder was the only thing holding her back.”

“To be honest, I never really understood why those two were together in the first place.”

“Well, they’re not together now.”

“Let me guess. Richard?”

Kyle nodded. “Cinder was never happy about working for him. He wanted to go back to being free agents. But Deleo wouldn’t listen, so they had a compromise. Deleo would work for Drakh, Cinder would help Deleo, but Cinder wouldn’t take orders from him directly. It was never that great a solution and there were arguments. I guess one of them finally went too far. I don’t know the details—Cinder’s not in the mood to talk—but he had to fight his way out of Drakh’s shadow realm and he got cut up pretty badly. He’s not in shape for an op like this.”

“How long until he will be?”

“Three, four days.”

Too long. “Well,” I said. It was bad news, but there was nothing I could do. “Guess that’s that.”

“Hold on,” Kyle said. “I didn’t say no. Cinder can’t do it, but I can.”

“Cinder okay with that?”

“He’s not my mother.”

I hesitated. I’d fought both with and against Kyle. He was competent and resourceful, but he didn’t have the raw power that Cinder did.

“From the sound of it, you aren’t really in a position to turn people away.”

“If things go wrong, this is going to turn into a heavyweight fight,” I said. “You okay with that?”

“Well, maybe I can help make sure they don’t go wrong,” Kyle said. “You know any good ways into that mansion?”

“No.”

“I do.”

I glanced through the futures, but only briefly. Kyle was right about one thing: I needed all the help I could get. “All right,” I said. “You’re in.”

Kyle nodded.

“Guessing you’re not doing this just to get back at Onyx and Pyre.”

“Pretty much,” Kyle said. “I want a favour.”

“What kind of favour?”

“Let’s just say it’s something you should be able to handle,” Kyle said. “We pull this off, I want it done. Okay?”

I looked at Kyle for a long moment, scanning futures. “Agreed,” I said at last.

“Where are we meeting?”

“On-site,” I said. “I’ll stake out the place today. Meet me when you’re ready.”

I checked in with Luna and Variam, then took what steps I could to make myself hard to track, including using an annuller and overcharging my shroud. I’d managed to stay ahead of the Council so far—from what Caldera had said, it sounded like their number one priority was Anne—but it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to me.

The area around Onyx’s mansion was forest and meadows, largely deserted. My gate landed me some distance off, and I walked ten minutes before the mansion’s roof and chimneys appeared over the hill ahead. I found a good vantage point in a copse of trees and settled down to wait.

It was the third time I’d been back to this mansion, and I hadn’t enjoyed any of my visits. The first time, it belonged to Morden; the second time, it had been taken over by Onyx. For whatever reason, when Morden had escaped last year, he hadn’t moved to reclaim his old home, and with Morden gone, the place belonged to Onyx by default.

Right now, there were two mages living at the mansion, Onyx and Pyre. Pyre was a fire mage with some nasty dating habits and he would be trouble, but the biggest problem was Onyx. Onyx was Morden’s Chosen, and he hated me for a variety of reasons, not least because when Morden was raised to the Junior Council, he hadn’t appointed Onyx as his aide but had picked me instead. I’d tangled with Onyx many times over the years and pretty much every time I’d come out ahead, it had been by outmaneuvering him. But outmaneuvering him on his home turf was going to be hard, and that was bad, because while Onyx wasn’t great on subtlety, he was an extremely deadly battle-mage. There were few mages who could beat him in a straight fight, and I wasn’t one of them.

I sensed Kyle coming in the second hour. He approached cautiously from behind; I waited for him to come into view and made a movement to catch his attention. The adept changed course and approached, dropping into a crouch near to me. “Good overlook,” he said, glancing out between the bushes.

Kyle was dressed in drab clothing that blended into the hillside, olive and dark brown. He carried no equipment; with his ability, he didn’t need to. I returned to studying the mansion.

“Any movement?” Kyle asked.

“Three going out, two coming back.” A collection of flashy cars were parked in the mansion’s driveway. “No sign of Onyx or Pyre.”

Kyle grunted. “They use gates anyway.” He glanced at me. “You hurt?”

I’d been lying in a position that didn’t require me to use my right arm. “Something like that.”

“You weren’t using that hand at the restaurant either.”

“That’s because it doesn’t work.”

“You’re doing an op like this with only one hand?”

“Yes.”

Kyle didn’t answer, but checking the futures, I saw that he was looking at me in a considering sort of way.

Minutes ticked past. Usually I like the quiet, but not today. My thoughts kept on wanting to go back to Anne and to what had happened between us, and each time I had to force away the memories. I still hadn’t really dealt with it, and I wasn’t sure if I could. The best I could do was focus on the job. If I concentrated on it, it was easier not to think.

Right now, though, my attempts at scouting out the mansion were being disrupted. To path-walk, you need your immediate future to be as stable as possible. Any kind of conflict or uncertainty makes it too hard to look ahead. It doesn’t need to be definite either—just the potential for it. Such as the possibility of someone aiming a gun at the back of your head.

“Can you stop that?” I said without turning to look.

“Not doing anything.”

“You’re thinking about it.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, and I could feel his eyes on me. “I guess I am.”

I twisted around to see Kyle watching me with a calculating expression. “You thinking about getting some payback for all those years ago?” I said. “Revenge for your friends?”

Kyle didn’t take his eyes off me. “Pretty much.”

“Way I remember it, Cinder and Deleo killed most of them.”

“Back then there wasn’t anything I could do.”

“And now there is?” I asked. “Fine. Go for it.”

Kyle frowned.

“If you’re going to pull one of those guns out of nowhere and take a shot, then fucking get on with it and stop wasting my time.”

I felt the futures sharpen, violence flickering. “You think this is some sort of joke?” Kyle said.

“I’m about a million miles away from the kind of place where I’d be making jokes.”

“Will was my friend,” Kyle said. His voice was quiet and dangerous. “So were the others. Give me a reason not to make you pay for it.”

“You want a reason.” I leant forward and looked Kyle in the eyes, my voice steady. “In the last forty-eight hours, I have gone from the top of mage society to an outlaw. Ninety percent of what I own has been taken away from me. My oldest friend is gone and is never coming back. I’ve been mind-controlled and forced to beat the woman I love to a pulp. I watched her look at me with tears in her eyes and beg me to stop, and I was made to keep hitting her anyway. The last thing she did before being possessed herself was to cripple me. This relic is my only chance of saving her, but I’ve been promised, by a creature that knows the future, that if I take it, I’ll pay with my life. So tell me, Kyle. What are you thinking of doing to me that’s going to be worse than what’s happened already?”

It was the first time I’d seen Kyle at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, looked at me, then closed it again. I turned away and we went back to watching the mansion in silence.

Midafternoon found Luna, Variam, and me gathered in the Hollow.

“The Precursor gateway we’re after is in Onyx’s main storeroom,” I said, laying out a map on my desk. The map was hand drawn and wouldn’t win any art prizes, but it was accurate. I tapped a rectangular room towards the back of the ground floor. “Here. Luna’s seen it before. Vari, you haven’t, so I’ve sketched you a picture. It’s a statue of a guy in robes, grey stone, a good six feet tall. You’ll know it when you see it.”

Variam studied the map. “Two doors?”

“The second one’s sealed.”

“So the only way in and out’s that corridor.” Variam traced it on the map. “And that leads to this junction . . .”

“Yeah,” I said. “You can see the problem.”

“You mean getting boxed in?” Luna asked.

“Once the gateway is open, we’ll have our exit,” I said. “Until then, no way out.”

“Chances we can get in without them noticing?” Variam asked.

“Kyle says he knows a hidden passage that’ll take us to the kitchens, and from what I can see it checks out,” I said. “We should be able to reach the storeroom easily enough. But Luna needs to use her cube to activate the gate, and once she does, it’s going to put out a magical signature like a fire alarm.”

Variam glanced at Luna. “Sure it’ll work?”

“Worked fine last time,” Luna said. “If I were you, I’d worry less about that and more about what Onyx’s gang are going to be doing.”

“Last time we did this, the gate took a few minutes to open,” I said. “We’re going to have to hold the area until it does.”

Variam studied the map. “That corridor’ll screw them if they rush us.”

“The normals and the adepts, sure. Pyre and Onyx are another story.”

“They both going to be home?”

“They were last I checked,” I said. “Plan is to maintain surveillance on the mansion throughout the evening. Soon as we see one of them leave, we go in. If we’re lucky, they both will.”

“And if we’re not, they’ll both be home,” Luna said. “I’ve got a question. How are we going to get out?”

“Plan A is the bubble realm,” I said. “It has a one-way exit system. Doesn’t have to be back to the relic either. If everything goes perfectly, we’ll show up a hundred miles away while Onyx and Pyre are still waiting for us to come back out.”

“What’s Plan B?” Luna asked.

“Starbreeze is going to be on station. If someone gets hurt or we need an evac, she can swoop in, pick them up, and GTFO.”

“Oh yeah,” Variam said, glancing out the window. “I still can’t believe you’re friends with an air elemental. How’d that happen?”

“I’ll tell you the story afterwards.”

“About that,” Luna said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see Starbreeze again. But she’s not exactly super reliable. Does she even know what ‘on station’ means?”

“Sort of,” I said. I’d had to explain it to her.

“And if she decides to go chase some butterfly to the Outer Hebrides?”

“I’ve told her that it’s important,” I said. “Really important. And bribed her and told her again it’s important. But yeah, there’s a reason she’s Plan B.”

“I thought elementals were super powerful?” Variam asked.

“It’s her attention span I’m worried about,” Luna said.

“Once we’re inside the bubble realm, things should get easier,” I said. “There are traps and defence systems, but I remember most of them from last time. I should be able to guide us through to the relic without any trouble.”

“Yeah, until you actually pick it up.”

“You sure about this Kyle guy?” Variam asked. “He’s switched sides once before, right? What’s to stop him doing it again?”

“He’s got a personal stake in this,” I said. “Besides, he’s not stupid enough to try selling us out to Onyx.”

“He’d better not.” Variam glanced at his watch. “I should check in.”

Luna watched Variam go, then turned back to me. “Are you sure about this?”

“I know it’s not the safest of plans,” I said. “But I’ve been thinking hard and this is the best I can come up with.”

Luna was right to be dubious. As far as plans went, calling this one “not the safest” was a major understatement. It wasn’t that any of the steps were unrealistic on their own—we’d done things that were harder in isolation—but there was very little margin for error. If something went wrong, then the four of us would be stranded in hostile territory with enemies closing in all around. We had our magic to fall back on, but the people in that mansion could do magic too, and there were a lot more of them than there were of us.

“It’s not that,” Luna said. “It’s what happens afterwards. Last time you tried using that relic, it didn’t work out so well, remember?”

The last time I’d picked up the relic, its current resident, a two-thousand-year-old mind mage named Abithriax, had tried to possess me and walk out in my body. He’d come pretty close to succeeding. “Just as well I had you and Starbreeze.”

“So what’s to stop him mind-controlling you again the instant you touch it?”

“For one thing, my mental defences are a lot better,” I said. “For another, I’ve got the dreamstone.”

Luna shook her head. “You just got away from one mind mage. Wouldn’t have thought you’d be so eager to go head-to-head with another.”

“There isn’t any other choice,” I said quietly. “My old life’s gone.”

“But—”

Movement in the futures caught my attention and I looked up sharply. “What’s wrong?” Luna asked.

“Trouble.”

We walked out into the clearing and met Variam coming the other way. “We’ve got trouble,” Variam confirmed. “I just heard from Landis. Council are sending a force, and he thinks you’ve got one, maybe two hours before they track you down.”

Damn it. “I’m going to path-walk.” I said. “Stay here.”

I walked off alone, and once I was isolated, looked to see what would happen if we stayed here. It took me less than a minute.

“Tell Landis his guess was right on the money,” I said, walking back to Variam and Luna. “We’ve got two hours at the outside before the Hollow’s under siege.”

“Can we hold them off?” Luna asked.

“Doesn’t matter. Once they bottle us up, we’re finished.”

“They know you’re here?” Variam asked.

“Not yet,” I said. “From the looks of the futures, I think they’re using divination. Auguries and probabilistic readings. The time is what it’ll take them to narrow it down.”

“I might be able to stall them . . .” Variam began.

I shook my head. “You and Luna have to get out of here.”

“What about you?” Luna asked.

“I’m going to be playing cat and mouse.”

“On your own? At least let me come with—”

“No,” I said. “We can’t let them link the two of you with me. Right now, they might be suspicious, but they haven’t got solid grounds to actually arrest you, and we are not going to give them any. You guys go to Onyx’s mansion and link up with Kyle. We’ll do the raid tonight.”

“While you do what?” Luna asked. “Be a human shield?”

“While I lead them on a chase,” I said. I smiled slightly. “Relax. The Keepers aren’t going to be expecting Starbreeze.”

“Just don’t play games, okay?” Variam said. “You didn’t see the mood in Keeper HQ. They really want to catch you.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t think I’m going to be playing any more games for a long time.” I glanced at my watch. “Let’s move.”

It was seven hours later.

Sweat trickled down my back as I leant against the wall of the service room. Brooms and mops were piled in the corner, and the far wall held a garbage disposal. My heart was thumping from the last round of sprints; now I was doing my best to stay silent and still. The weather in London had been hot; here in New York, it was sweltering.

I should have listened to Vari, I thought. When he said they wanted me, he wasn’t kidding.

Things had started well. I’d gated out of the Hollow without being detected, and the futures in which the Council attacked our shadow realm had quickly faded. Vari and Luna had gotten away without picking up any tails, and by contacting them through the dreamstone, I was able to confirm that they weren’t being pursued. I took a gate stone to New Zealand and set about trying to lose my pursuers.

It had worked . . . at first. By scanning ahead, I could tell in advance when the Council teams were going to be dropping in on my location, and be gone long before they arrived. For three hours I hopped around the world, gating from point to point, always one jump ahead. Somewhere around the fourth hour, though, things changed. The futures came apart and re-formed, and the Council’s response times began to shrink. I didn’t know what they’d started doing differently, but it was effective. Each time I would gate, I’d have less of a lead before they’d start to narrow down my position.

The last time I’d been on the run like this, I’d managed to keep ahead of the Council forces for a full month. But that time, I’d been running from Levistus and his personal troops. This time it was the whole Council, and it was frightening how persistent they were. They just didn’t stop, and they could keep this up forever.

Right now, the problem I was facing was gate stones. Without the ability to cast my own gate spells as an elemental mage could, I had to rely on focuses to travel. But each gate stone worked for only one place, and each time the Council tracked me to one of those locations, that gate stone became effectively useless. I’ve stockpiled a lot of gate stones over the years, but I only had so many with me, and right now more than half of the ones I was carrying were to locations that had been already compromised. Normally a gate stone being compromised isn’t a big deal, since your enemies can’t realistically camp out at a gate destination for days on end just on the off chance you decide to show up. Unfortunately, the Council did have the manpower to camp at all my gate destinations just on the off chance I decided to show up. Which was the reason that I was hiding in this skyscraper in New York.

I rummaged left-handed in my pocket and pulled out two gate stones, staring down at them. Both were about the size of a finger joint; one was river rock, worn smooth, while the other was cut and treated brick. Two left. I’d started with seven. I didn’t want to go down to one, but I couldn’t stall forever . . .

Movement in the futures caught my attention, and I realised the question had become academic. I looked around; the service room didn’t have a lock, but there was a wedge on a shelf. I shoved it under the door and waited.

Footsteps sounded from out in the corridor, coming closer. From the futures where I opened the door, I could see that it was a man in his thirties, clean-shaven with brown hair. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, but something about him gave me the feeling of a cop or investigator. His footsteps slowed as he approached my position, coming to a stop. “Receiving,” he said. His accent was American. I could imagine him standing out there, looking from side to side as he spoke into his mike.

A moment’s silence, then he spoke again. “Nothing.” The door was thin and I could hear the man clearly. He was standing less than ten feet away. “We have any eyes?”

Pause.

“Thought the Brits were searching ground floor up.”

Pause.

“Well, how do they know he’s here, then?”

Another pause. I couldn’t hear what the person on the other end was saying to the man, but it didn’t make him happy. “Confirm, moving to tenth floor.” His voice dropped to a mutter. “Don’t know why we’re cleaning up their shit . . .” His footsteps approached, stopping outside.

I held my breath, keeping very still. The handle rattled. My left hand was closed around my stun focus. This guy wasn’t a mage, but he could still raise the alarm. I’d have to take him out in one move.

The handle rattled again, but the wedge held. Then the footsteps were moving away, down the corridor and towards the lift.

I waited twenty seconds, then very quietly reached down to remove the wedge, opened the door, and slipped out, closing it behind me. From around the corner, I could hear the man talking on his radio again. I turned the other way and moved to the stairs, my footsteps quick and soft. Once I’d made it out onto the stairwell, I breathed a little easier.

As I went up the stairs, I reached out through the dreamstone. Luna. Situation?

There was a little resistance, but not much. Distance didn’t seem to be as much of a barrier to the dreamstone with all the practice I’d been putting in. All good, Luna said. It looks like the mansion’s settling down for the night.

Onyx and Pyre still there?

Haven’t seen them leave.

I reached the fourteenth floor and opened the stairwell door quietly, stepping through into a corridor just like the one below. Any problems with Kyle?

He and Vari were arguing a bit, but they seem to be getting on better now. Are you safe?

Getting hunted, I said. I looked down the corridor, wondering where to hide. There was a service room on this level too, but I didn’t want to pull the same trick too many times. The apartments seemed like better choices. You and Vari have had enough time to get a feel for the area. What do you think?

If it were just about making it in, I’d say no problem, Luna answered. These guys are pretty amateur hour. It’s what happens once we reach the statue that I’m worried about.

You’ve got the cube?

Oh yeah. But you remember how long it took to open last time? It was what, three minutes? That’s going to feel like a freaking month when we’re trying to hold them off.

I checked to see which apartments were empty and which were occupied. A row of three along the left side showed no response in the futures where I banged on the door. They also had balconies looking out onto the Hudson River, giving me an emergency exit. How soon can we move?

We’ve been watching the lights start to go off, Luna said. These guys stay up late though. Kyle thinks we should wait another few hours.

I stopped in front of the apartment I’d chosen. Okay.

Can you stay ahead of the Keepers that long?

I’ll just have to, won’t I? I reached for my lockpicks. We should . . . I trailed off, my heart sinking. Oh shit.

Alex? What’s wrong?

Sometimes it’s the little things that screw you up. I’ve been picking locks for years, and it’s something that I’ve come to take for granted; if there’s a locked door, then unless it’s something really fancy, I can get through with a minute’s work. Lockpicking is straightforward: you apply tension with a wrench, then use a pick on the pins.

Which takes two hands.

Problem, I said. Give me a sec. I searched through hundreds and then thousands of futures, looking for ones in which I picked the lock. I didn’t even come close. There was no way I was getting through that door.

Change of plan. I turned back towards the stairwell, and—

—shit. My thoughts raced. Stairwell would draw pursuit. Lift was suicide. All that left was the service room. I ran down the corridor and slipped inside. Again I wedged the door and waited.

One minute passed. Two. I heard the sound of an opening door, along with echoes from the stairwell. The door closed. Footsteps came down the corridor, slowed, stopped.

Silence. I held perfectly still.

“I know you’re there, Alex,” a voice said from outside. It was a woman this time, and British instead of American.

Caldera.

“You coming out?” Caldera said. “Or we doing this the hard way again?”

I skimmed through the futures, looking for ones in which I was able to get away undetected. It wasn’t happening. So much for the gate stones. I reached out through my dreamstone. Starbreeze. Are you there?

Hi!

I need you to come pick me up.

Mmmmm . . . Starbreeze said. In a sec.

Starbreeze! It’s important!

More footsteps sounded in the corridor, followed by the sound of a handle rattling. “Come on, Alex,” Caldera said. “We need to know what Drakh’s up to.”

Leaves are funny, Starbreeze said. Look how they move.

Please, Starbreeze. I’m in danger.

Fine . . .

The futures shifted, Starbreeze appearing in them. When she’d appear was another question. “So let me guess,” Caldera said from outside. There was another rattle of a handle, closer this time. I could imagine her out there, looking up and down the corridor as she checked the doors one by one. “Drakh grabbed you and now you’re on the run. You’re hoping to stay ahead of him and the Council as well. Sound right?”

I didn’t move. Like most earth mages, Caldera can sense vibrations in the ground. It’s pretty good for spotting people, but it doesn’t work if they hold still. I’d seen her do this before, making noise to spook targets into running.

“It’s not going to work,” Caldera said. “The Council aren’t going to stop. They’re going to bring you in, it’s just a matter of when.” There was the sound of another handle. She was maybe two doors down now. “They think you were working with Drakh, by the way. You and your aide. That snatch and grab convinced them. But it’s not true, is it? You’d never help him. I know you well enough for that. You can still help stop him.”

I felt a flash of anger. I’d watched Caldera take this line in interrogations so many times. Hey, I know you’re not really a bad guy. My bosses think so, but I know you’re not like that. You didn’t really mean to hurt that other guy, right? I mean, he started it, and it wasn’t like you were trying to kill him. Why don’t you tell me your side? Maybe I can help you. Now I was the one on the receiving end.

For years now, I’d been a Keeper and a Council official. Back in the old days, I’d hated people like that. It had taken me less than two days to remember why.

Another handle rattle. “You aren’t going to win a fight, Alex,” Caldera said. “I mean, you tried that last time and I’m pretty sure you remember how that ended.”

I didn’t answer. Looking through the futures, Starbreeze was ten seconds to two minutes away. Just a little longer.

More footsteps. Caldera was right outside the door now. I saw the handle turn, rattle. The wedge held and the handle returned to horizontal. “I guess you’re still thinking you can get out of this somehow,” Caldera said through the door. “Outsmart everyone and get away. It’s what you always do, right?” She paused. “Know the problem with that? You’re not as smart as you think you are.”

The lock on the door splintered as the door broke open, slamming against the wall. Caldera lowered her leg, recovering from her kick; her eyes locked onto me as we stared at each other from less than ten feet away.

“A lot of people have been telling me that,” I said, my voice tight and angry. “But I do learn from my mistakes.”

“Just stay—” Caldera began, then whipped her head around.

Starbreeze zipped into the room, gave Caldera a frown, then reached out and turned me into air. Caldera’s eyes went wide and she shouted into her communicator. “Elemental! Seal the building! Seal—!”

Starbreeze sent us both flying past Caldera, down the corridor, out the window, and upwards. I don’t like her, she announced.

I’m not surprised.

We soared up into the evening sky, the lights and cars and skyscrapers of Manhattan shrinking below us. The mainland was a looming mass lit up in the sunset, while Long Island stretched off to the other side. A clear sky arced above us, the evening sun fading from yellow to blue to dusky purple. At a few thousand feet, Starbreeze levelled off and zipped away into the east.

I reached out through the dreamstone. Luna.

You’re okay?

You know how Kyle wanted to wait a few hours?

Yeah.

Change of plan, I said. You’ve got twenty minutes.

The American coast was disappearing behind us, fading into the sunset. Above, the stars were twinkling in the clear sky, growing brighter minute by minute. It was hard to judge our speed over the ocean, but the sun was setting behind us so quickly that I could actually see it sinking below the horizon. Starbreeze is fast.

I felt Luna sigh. So much for waiting for them all to go to sleep. At least you got out.

Yeah, but now they know about Starbreeze, I said. Next time they’d be ready. I want to move within five minutes of landing. Be ready.

Will do.

I let the connection lapse and relaxed, floating on the air. There was no reason to worry anymore. I’d made my choice; now it was just a matter of seeing how it would play out.

Caldera had been wrong. I knew the ways in which this night could end, and none of them involved me being brought in by the Council. In a few hours, I’d be more powerful than I’d ever been, or I’d be dead. One way or another, my old life was over.

Starbreeze sped on over the Atlantic, carrying me towards my fate.