Marked

11

The main floor of the Tiger’s Palace is the only part of the building that most guests see, a huge room with a high ceiling and walls of unpainted concrete that give it an industrial look. A scaffolding high above holds lights and sound equipment, and a mezzanine level with a balcony runs around the room about fifteen feet up, leading into a VIP lounge with tinted windows. Surrounding the main room on three sides is a warren of smaller rooms and corridors, the entrances guarded by locked doors and stone-faced security.

Usually on Friday evenings the club floor is blanketed with clashing lights and pounding music, but there was none of that tonight. The room was well lit, and the only sound was the noise of the crowd. And it was a big crowd, people packed in tightly enough to fill the room from one wall to the other. At the far end, next to the balcony stairs, a stage had been erected, currently empty but for a couple of microphone stands.

Holy crap, there’s a lot of them, Luna said. How many do you think?

Must be close on a thousand, I said. The entrance we’d come through was slightly raised, and from our position at the top of the steps we were looking out over a sea of heads and shoulders. Everyone was talking, their voices raised, and the noise was a steady low roar. I could see a variety of people, everything from teenagers to people who looked like they’d come straight from work, but taken as a whole, I guessed the average age to be somewhere in the twenties.

Come on, Luna said. We’re visible up here and I don’t want to have to make up some story about who you are unless I have to.

We descended into the crowd. I’d been thinking of getting a drink, but changed my mind when I saw the line at the bar. As I moved, I scanned the crowd with my magesight. I picked up magic, and a lot of it.

Do you think they’re all adepts? Luna said, echoing my thoughts.

Even if only half of them are, this is the biggest gathering I’ve ever seen, I replied. And it feels like more than half. There were pinpoints of magic everywhere, a kaleidoscope of earth and force and life and space and everything in between. The good news was that I was pretty sure no one was going to be able to spot us by our auras. On the flip side, I really did not want to be in the middle of this crowd if it turned ugly.

Do you think we can get up to the balcony? Luna asked.

Maybe once the show’s started and they’re distracted. Incoming call. My earpiece chimed and I turned away towards the wall and murmured under my breath. ‘Receiving.’

‘Hey, Alex,’ Variam said into my ear. ‘Got that dreamstone?’

‘One sec.’ I reached out to Variam. There was the usual brief struggle, then a mental click as the connection took. Got you. Let’s hear it.

Everyone’s gearing up. I could feel Variam’s emotions mixed in with his thoughts, nervousness and excitement and anticipation all blended together. We just had the last briefing ten minutes ago. They weren’t exactly heavy on the restraint angle.

I frowned. The restraint angle?

As in, first priority is getting Richard, second priority is getting his associates, third priority is arresting anyone from the adept crowd who’s involved in this defence association thing. Avoiding collateral damage didn’t get mentioned. I think it’s probably down around seventh or eighth.

‘Damn it,’ I muttered. Are you serious? The whole reason we’re in this mess is because the Keepers got trigger-happy last year, and now they’re planning a repeat performance?

Hey, I’m not the one giving the orders. Anyway, they’ve got a point. If they can get Richard, it’ll end this whole war before it starts.

It worries me that you’re using the word ‘war’.

Just calling it like I see it. How are things looking on the ground?

Crowded, I said. Lots of room for collateral damage. When are the Keepers going to move?

Orders are not to move until someone gets eyes on Drakh. Then we go all in. Anne’s not there, right?

She’s watching outside.

Make sure she stays there. I could feel tension and worry in Variam’s thoughts. Gotta go.

I broke the connection to Variam and reached out to Luna. That was Vari. As soon as Richard shows, things are going to get violent.

Yeah, that’s not exactly news, Luna said. Take a look up on the balcony.

I scanned the balcony. Shapes moved in the shadows, but I couldn’t pick out faces. Anyone I should recognise?

Well, I’m not a hundred per cent sure, Luna said, but I saw someone that really looked like Vihaela.

My heart sank. Well, that pretty much kills any chances that this night was going to end peacefully.

I think that ship sailed a long time ago. How are the Council going to know when Richard shows up?

They’ll have watchers in the crowd. No point looking; they’ll be well hidden.

I think I saw Stephen a second ago, Luna said. Who’s that?

A man had climbed onto the stage. He tapped the microphone and the thud-thud-thud echoed through the speakers out over the club floor. Conversations slowly died away as people turned to face him. ‘Hello,’ he said, his voice reverberating through the room. ‘Good evening.’

I frowned. Something about the man’s face was familiar. He was thin, with glasses, a receding hairline and a hooked nose. I’ve seen that guy before.

Mage? Luna asked.

No, not exactly … My eyes narrowed. Wait. That meeting in Manchester.

The what now?

Richard took me there back when he was posing as Archon, I said. He was talking to a bunch of adept leaders, and this guy was one of them. I’ve been trying to get the Keepers to trace him, but they haven’t been making much effort.

Pretty sure they’ll be interested now.

‘Thank you all for coming tonight,’ the man said. ‘And there’s a reason I say that, because it’s not an easy thing to do. Once upon a time adepts could walk the streets in Britain safely, without having to be afraid. But it’s become clear over the past year that that’s no longer the case. I think the events of last autumn made that even more clear. Make no mistake, right now, we are living in the eye of the hurricane. Just by being here, you – all of you! – you’re taking a step to assert yourselves. You’re saying to the Council, we will not be your sheep. We won’t sit here and be exploited. You deserve the same rights and privileges as anyone else. By being here, you’re taking your first step towards taking those back.’

Is this supposed to be a recruiting speech? Luna asked.

I think it’s the warm-up act, I said. I was busy scanning the futures, looking for signs of Richard. It wasn’t easy – crowds are the absolute worst places for divination, and the possibilities kept flickering.

Not doing a great job of it.

You’re not the intended audience.

‘… ever since the beginning,’ the man was saying. ‘This is the way they keep you under control. Weak, and vulnerable. But you have the power to take your future into your own hands. All you have to do …’

I switched my attention away from the man, scanning the room. The crowd was paying attention, but the murmurs of background conversation hadn’t died away and I didn’t get the sense that this guy had them in the palm of his hand. I reached out through the dreamstone. Anne?

I’m here, Anne replied instantly. Are you okay?

What can you see?

A whole lot of people, Anne said. Some are familiar, but there’s one up on the balcony that’s hidden behind a web. I think it might be—

Vihaela.

Did she see you?

Not yet, and I hope it’ll stay that way. You safe out there?

Someone on the roof was patrolling. Council, I think. It wasn’t a problem.

Mm. Call me as soon as anything happens, all right?

I think you should be worrying more about yourself.

‘Alex,’ Luna said quietly. ‘I think something’s happening.’

I took a glance into the futures and my heart skipped a beat. It’s go time. Follow me.

I started pushing my way through the crowd, clearing a way for Luna. I got some angry looks, but no one seemed willing to make an issue of it. I thought I felt a gate, Luna said.

So did I, I said. We need to find a way to the upper level.

What’s changed?

‘… but we can’t do this alone,’ the man was saying. ‘I know that’s a difficult thing to accept. I didn’t want to believe it either. But no matter how strong and powerful we are, we need allies. That’s why we’re here today.’

The crowd has, I said. Listen.

Luna did, and it took her only a second to notice. The crowd had gone quiet. They’d been distracted before, listening with half an ear while talking and drinking; now all of a sudden they were focused on the speaker. Looking around, I could see dozens of eyes staring silently at the stage. What the hell? Luna said. Was it something he said?

It’s not him, I said. Close your eyes. Can you feel it?

Luna frowned but obeyed. I don’t … she began, then paused. That’s weird.

What do you feel?

I’m not sure. Luna sounded confused. It just sort of feels right. But when I stop and think about what he’s saying …

Charm magic, I told her. It’s telling you to trust him, to go with the flow. But it’s not actually convincing you. That’s why you’re confused. Your emotions and your thoughts are telling you two different things.

How come it’s not affecting you?

I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with mind-affecting spells.

‘… been working on this for a long time,’ the man was saying. ‘Many of you have asked me what’s been going on, and we haven’t been able to tell you, but now at last …’

What about Richard? Luna asked. Is he here?

He’s here.

Luna twisted her head. Where?

Up there, I said, nodding up at the balcony. I don’t know what happened, but a few minutes ago something changed. Up until then the futures were blurred, then all of a sudden they snapped into place. We don’t want to be in the middle of the crowd when he shows up.

Yeah, not arguing with that. Bit of a problem, though. Luna tilted her head towards the stairs. Don’t think those guys are keen on letting us through.

The stairs up to the balcony were just ahead. We’d made it close enough that I could see over the heads of the crowd, and it didn’t look good. I’d expected the stairs to be guarded, but I’d been figuring on maybe one man. Instead there were three, and looking into the futures in which I shoved my way through, I saw that more were above.

Don’t suppose you have some spell in your box of tricks that’ll get us through that many? I asked Luna.

I could fight my way through, if that’s what you’re asking.

Not so much, no. I scanned the crowd. There, on your two o’clock. You see?

Luna went up on tiptoes, craning her neck. A little to our right, almost hidden by a set of speakers, was a small unmarked door. I see it. Guards?

Doesn’t look like it. It’ll be locked, but I can probably get it open if you cover me.

‘… and now he’s here,’ the adept finished. ‘I present to you Mage Richard Drakh.’

There was a rustle and a murmur as everyone in the crowd looked up at once. A figure appeared on the balcony, looking down over the people below.

Richard looked subtly different from how I remembered. In the past, I’d always been struck by how ordinary he seemed. He just looked average in almost every way: not tall, not short, not handsome or ugly, not thin or fat. I knew how dangerous he was, but I also knew that to a stranger’s eyes, there was nothing about him to catch the attention at all … at least, not until you’d seen him in action. He had the perfect everyman appearance, the kind of look that fades into a crowd.

Richard didn’t look like an everyman any more. It was hard to say what had changed; his clothes were perhaps a little more impressive, his stance a little different, but there was no doubt about the impact. The crowd were receptive and primed, but even without the enchantment effect, I had the feeling he would have caught their attention. He looked like a king addressing his subjects.

I wanted to keep looking up at him – the impulse tugged at me to stand and watch and listen – but I pulled my eyes away to see Luna staring up at him. Luna. Luna!

Oh. Right. Luna blinked. I didn’t realise he was so—

Door.

Right.

We pushed our way through the crowd. I don’t think anyone even noticed; they were too busy staring. Making it to the door, I felt Luna take up a position at my back.

‘Adepts of Britain,’ Richard said. His voice was deep and powerful; it echoed around the room, and unlike the previous speaker, he wasn’t using a microphone. ‘You are at a crossroads. For all your lives you have been ruled by the Light Council. Now, for the first time, you have a choice.’

I listened with half an ear, taking out my lock-picks. I pulled one from its case – and fumbled it, dropping it to the concrete, as I seemed to hear something in the distance, a far-off cry. Anne?

Richard was still speaking. ‘The decisions of the Light Council determine every aspect of your lives. Where you can go; what is permitted; even whether you live or die. They have decreed that you should follow the Concord, yet the Concord grants you no protection …’

There was no answer. I reached out, suddenly afraid, groping for Anne’s presence and finding nothing. Anne! I called into the void. Where are you?

Then suddenly Anne was there. Right here. Quit panicking.

Jesus. I felt my insides unknot. Don’t scare me like that.

Like what? I’m fine.

I knelt down and grabbed my pick from where it had fallen, inserting it into the lock. What happened?

Guard got too close, Anne said. But then he turned around and started hurrying back. Something happen in there?

Yeah, you might say that. My communicator chimed. Hold on. ‘Vari?’ I said under my breath.

‘We’re moving,’ Variam said without preamble. ‘Gate’s hot. Don’t get in the middle when the shooting starts.’

‘No, wait! There’s a—’ I realised I was talking to a dead line and swore.

‘Alex?’ Luna murmured under her breath. ‘You’re not invisible.’

Looking around, I realised that people were giving us distracted glances. Most of them looked as though they’d rather be listening to Richard, but one guy in particular was staring and frowning.

‘Over the past year, I have met with you and listened to your stories,’ Richard said. ‘Over and over again I have heard talk about taking action. But when your leaders finally took action last year, it was to launch a protest. You gathered using only words, and brought signs and placards as though you were dissatisfied students. You know full well how that ended.’

My pick slipped and I hissed under my breath. The lock on the door wasn’t an especially good one, but lock-picking is a tricky business and I was short on time. Luna? Could use some help.

Luna lifted a finger and a wisp of her curse drifted out, twining itself around the lock and my picks. In my magesight, I saw the silver mist turn to gold. I tried again and this time, the futures opened up, the actions leading to success multiplying. The lock clicked and the door opened.

I pulled the door open and Luna and I disappeared through before anyone could stop us. Richard was still talking. ‘… violence not because of what you were doing, but because of your potential. They feared what you might—’ The door shut, cutting off his voice.

We were in an unlit room that smelled of metal. I pulled out a tiny pocket torch and switched it on, the bright beam picking out machinery. There was no visible exit except for where we’d come in, but I knew there would be a door hidden in the back. I started walking, and as I did I felt something in the distance. It was far away and hard to pin down, but I had the feeling that it was gate magic. Anne, I said. Any news?

Nothing much, Anne said instantly. Oh. Except for all the Council people gating in. Did you mean them?

Yes, yes, I did. The door at the back was locked too. I bent down and got to work on it. Can you stay out of their way?

Kind of working on that at the moment.

I switched out my hook pick for a half diamond and carried on working. Back off and keep your distance, I told Anne. They’re looking for people trying to break out, not people coming in. If you stay away they aren’t going to chase you.

You really don’t need to worry about me.

Anne! Don’t come in. Okay?

Fine, whatever. Staying outside. Happy?

Good. We’ll see you soon.

‘Were you talking to Anne?’ Luna asked.

‘Yeah. Can you tell?’

‘No. Can anyone else?’

‘Hope not,’ I said. It was one of the reasons I’d been trying to shift over to using the dreamstone where possible. Council communicators were supposed to be secure, but they were also supposed to always work, and they’d failed at that too many times for me to be comfortable with the things. As far as I could tell, the dreamstone worked no matter the range and it was impossible for anyone else to detect. ‘Sounds like the Keepers are coming in numbers.’

‘What are they going to do?’

‘Standard Order of the Star doctrine is to surround the building and establish a perimeter. They’ll put up an interdiction field to stop anyone escaping, then they’ll move in.’

The lock clicked and we stepped out into a corridor. I could still hear Richard’s voice, muffled through the bricks and concrete, and I could still feel the faint tug of the enchantment trying to make me stop and listen. ‘What’s the plan?’ Luna whispered.

I turned left, heading for the stairs. The interior of the Tiger’s Palace was a maze, but I had my divination to guide me and we traced a route through the corridors that would take us up to the mezzanine level without meeting any more guards. A set of fire stairs led us up to a balcony and back to the club floor, almost exactly above where I’d picked the lock.

Richard was still talking. It was hard not to stop and listen but I forced myself to shut the words out. Odd phrases filtered through – he was talking about the history of adepts in Britain, and at other times, I’d have wanted to know more – but I made myself concentrate on finding the source of the magic. Unfortunately, this was one time my magesight was failing me. There were hundreds of magical auras, and I couldn’t tell which was the right one.

Which way? Luna asked.

Working on it, I said. Richard was saying something about the Hermetic Accords … no. Focus.

What?

Look for some kind of magic source, I said. Wide-area effect. Something this powerful should be easy to see.

I thought enchantment magic was impossible to spot? Luna said. Anyway, with this much noise I’d have more luck trying to find a dropped contact lens.

Well, it’s not like we have another way to spot them.

Who says we have to spot them?

I felt a shift in the magic around Luna and looked at her to see the mists of her curse swirl, forming spiralling patterns. Luna gazed into the distance for a moment, as though she were watching something fascinating but very far away, then seemed to snap back to the immediate present. She took a step back and pointed. ‘This way.’

I frowned. ‘That’s the way we came.’

‘No, I’ve got a good feeling about this way.’

Luna started walking and I followed. She turned right, then up a small staircase that I hadn’t noticed. We went up, left and left again. I had no idea where we were going and I could hear movement around us, but somehow we didn’t bump into anyone. Luna led us into a narrow, dark corridor. Light and the sound of Richard’s voice spilled from an open doorway.

I took one look at what I’d see if I went forward and everything fell into place. Of course. It would be her, wouldn’t it? The doorway led into a smaller balcony on the second floor, looking down over the main room. Strange equipment lined the balcony, opaque crystals resting on metal stands. I didn’t understand how they worked, but I was pretty sure I could guess what they did. They were psychic amplifiers, and I was willing to bet they were linked to broadcast devices hidden across the club floor. Jagadev had installed magical foci throughout the club designed to manipulate the thoughts and feelings of anyone who stayed here long enough, and from this room, he – or anyone skilled enough in mind or charm magic – could play the crowd like a violin. Sneaky bastard. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. I remembered the time I’d come to the Tiger’s Palace to a meeting of Dark mages, searching for Anne, and wondered how many supposedly ‘neutral’ meetings Jagadev had manipulated over the years.

Can you see if there’s anyone there? Luna asked.

Oh yeah, I said. The woman standing on the balcony was small and delicately beautiful, with long black hair and a diamond-shaped face. She had one hand resting on the spheres, and was concentrating. Our old friend.

Got a plan for what to do next?

You know what? I said. I think this is one of those times where subtlety is overrated.

I walked quickly and quietly to the doorway, Luna in tow. The woman had her back to the door and was entirely focused on her spell. I reached her in three quick strides, grabbed her by the hair, and yanked her head back. She started to struggle and froze as she felt the knife blade at her throat. ‘Hello, Meredith,’ I said into her ear. ‘We just keep running into each other in this place, don’t we?’

‘Wait! Don’t hurt me!’

‘Who said anything about hurting?’ I said.

‘I—’ Meredith paused. ‘Alex?’

‘Good memory,’ I said. ‘Now how about you explain what you were doing with that focus?’

‘What?’

I dug the knife in slightly. It’s one of my better-hidden weapons, an innocuous-looking piece of metal that reshapes itself when supplied with the right magical charge. The mass limitation means the blade has to be thin, more of a stiletto than a fighting knife, but it’s long enough.

‘Wait! I’m telling the truth!’

‘I am really not in the mood for games.’

‘I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! Just—’

I dug the knife in further, on the edge of drawing blood, and Meredith gasped. ‘Drakh! It was Drakh! He and his Chosen, they made me! I didn’t have a choice!’

‘Made you do what?’

‘A sway the crowd effect, the equipment was already—’

‘I know what spell you were using,’ I told her. ‘I want to know exactly what effect Drakh and Deleo wanted you to produce. What were their instructions?’

From our position, we could look out over the crowd below, and I could see a sea of faces, though Richard himself was obscured by the balcony rail. None of them seemed to have noticed us; the lights on the ceiling were arranged so as to cast the patch of wall with the balcony in shadow. ‘He— They wanted the crowd malleable.’ Meredith spoke fast, the words spilling out. ‘He said to start while Andrei was doing his speech. Just make everyone feel good, have them go with the flow. So they’d agree to everything. There wasn’t going to be any fighting.’

‘Oh?’ I said. ‘And when the Keepers showed up, what were you meant to do then?’

Meredith hesitated.

‘You were going to whip them into a frenzy, weren’t you? Instant lynch mob.’

‘I didn’t have a choice! They were going to kill me if I didn’t!’

I made a disgusted noise. Meredith took it as a sign of violence and tensed; futures of her trying a desperate attack flashed into view. ‘Oh, relax,’ I said. ‘I’m not going to kill you unless you give me a reason. Though given what you were just doing, it wouldn’t take much. Did you think for even a second about how many people in that crowd were going to die if you followed through with your plan?’

‘What are you going to do?’ Fear laced Meredith’s voice.

‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘We’re going to sit right here and listen to how much the crowd likes Richard without you tipping the scales.’

Meredith subsided. From a glance at the futures I could tell that she wasn’t going to try anything. Meredith can fight if she has to, but she won’t if she has any other choice.

Meredith had had me distracted enough that I’d let the connection with Luna lapse. I linked with her thoughts again to find that she was already talking. So not that this isn’t fun to watch, Luna was saying, but do we have a plan for when Richard notices his audience have stopped making puppy eyes?

Down below, Richard was still talking, but the effect of Meredith’s spell was wearing off. I could hear murmurs as people started to shake off the enchantment, ripples of movement going through the crowd. Still working on that part, I admitted.

Then maybe we should move before they come looking to see what the problem is.

Not a bad idea. I looked ahead into the futures where we did just that. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh?

Company. I switched connections. I was getting more practised with using the dreamstone, able to shift more quickly between links. Vari? How long until you guys make an entrance?

They’re busy with the interdiction field, Variam said. Call it ten minutes.

Great.

Why? What’s going on?

No, no, we’re fine. See you soon. I switched back to Luna. We’ve got Deleo thirty seconds out. Vari and the Keepers are ten minutes away. We’re going to have to stall until then.

You don’t ask for much, do you? Luna said with a mental sigh. Got one of those life rings?

That’s the backup plan. Hex the equipment in case we have to make an exit.

Got it. Luna concentrated, tendrils of silver mist reaching out to soak into the focuses nearby.

‘Can I—?’ Meredith began.

‘Shut up,’ I told her.

Running footsteps sounded from the corridor. I pulled Meredith around to put her between me and the door, and Luna stepped to the side to open up space. A moment later, Rachel appeared in the balcony doorway with two men behind.

It had been a while since I’d seen Rachel, and judging from her expression, the time we’d spent apart hadn’t improved her opinion of me. She was wearing her black domino mask on top of what looked like combat gear. As soon as she saw me, her hand came up, green light glowing at her palm.

If she fires, run, I told Luna. I kept Meredith between me and Rachel. There was a moment’s pause.

‘Alex,’ Rachel said coldly. The disintegration spell hovered about her hand, ready to strike, but she didn’t fire. ‘I should have guessed.’

‘Nice to see you too,’ I said. My disguise was still up, but it’s always been really hard for me to fool Rachel. ‘How’s life?’

Rachel stared at me for a second. Futures flickered, and I knew she was calculating the odds of hitting me with a spell without killing Meredith in the process. Apparently she didn’t like her chances, because she took a step forward.

‘Ah, ah.’ I stepped backwards, forcing Meredith at knifepoint. ‘I wouldn’t.’

‘You’ve got nowhere to go,’ Rachel told me.

‘I’ll survive the drop off this balcony,’ I told Rachel. ‘She won’t.’

‘I should just kill you.’

‘If you could kill me without hitting Meredith, you’d have done it already.’

‘Who says I need her alive?’

I felt Meredith stiffen and smiled slightly. ‘Richard does, which is the reason he sent you here in the first place. I doubt he’ll be too pleased if you come back with the news that everyone’s dead. That’s the thing about your disintegration magic, isn’t it? Not so great if you don’t want to kill everyone in the room.’

Rachel stared at me but didn’t speak. The two guys behind her exchanged glances. They looked like hired muscle: dark glasses and cheap suits. ‘Maybe he—’ one of them began, stepping forward and reaching into his jacket.

Rachel spoke without turning. ‘Shut up and stay out of my way.’ The man glared angrily at Rachel’s back, which suggested that he was even dumber than he looked, but did as he was told.

From behind, I could still hear Richard speaking, but the crowd was getting restless. ‘… association was formed for your protection,’ he was saying. ‘However, as things stand, it is not strong enough.’

‘Why do you care?’ someone called out from the club floor.

‘You do,’ Richard answered.

‘Why should we listen to you?’ someone else called. ‘You’re one of them.’

‘Looks like the honeymoon’s over,’ I told Rachel. ‘What do you think? You reckon if Meredith got back on that gear, she could regain control of the crowd?’

Rachel’s eyes narrowed. Again the futures flickered, possibilities of her firing on me blinking in and out. ‘Let her go right now, and I won’t kill you.’

‘Nice offer. Did you say that to all the guys you caught at Richard’s mansion too?’

‘You are correct,’ Richard said to the crowd below. ‘I am a mage. I am not, however, part of the Council. I have no investment in controlling or subjugating you, and I have no interest in forcing you to obey mage laws or in keeping you away from the levers of power. What I can offer you is the chance to be masters of your own fate.’

‘So while we’ve got the chance to chat,’ I said to Rachel, ‘there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.’

‘Of course there is.’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Though it’s a little different this time.’ Ever since my trip to the tunnels, I’d been turning over in the back of my mind how I ought to play this. The last few times that I’d met Rachel I’d tried to plant seeds of doubt, chip away at her relationship with Richard. But the more I’d pushed, the more resistance I’d encountered, and my last attempt in the Vault had been a total failure. Maybe it was time for a different approach. ‘I’d like to know why you hate me so much.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Of course I have an agenda,’ Richard said behind me in response to some question from the crowd. ‘I have never pretended otherwise. I am not helping you out of altruism. What I offer is an alliance.’

‘We’ve run into each other a lot of times now,’ I told Rachel. ‘Sometimes we’re allies, sometimes we’re enemies, but one thing that’s never changed is how much you hate me. What I want to know is why. I mean, you won. You always wanted to be powerful and feared; well, you got it. You’re Richard’s Chosen, and everyone gets out of the way when they see you coming. Yeah, there are bigger dogs out there, but I’m not one of them. So what’s your problem with me that makes you want to kill me so badly?’

‘You know what you did,’ Rachel said.

‘You mean when I peeked into your head?’ I said. ‘That was four years ago. Get over it.’

Rachel stared at me. The possibilities of her trying to kill me hadn’t stopped; she was still trying to line up a shot. I could feel Meredith’s breathing as I held her close; she was keeping very still, maybe hoping that everyone would forget about her. To my right, Luna was still pouring her curse into Meredith’s equipment. I could feel the volume of the spell building; the focus was probably already beyond repair.

Then the possibilities of violence winked out. ‘All right, Alex, I’ll play,’ Rachel said. ‘You want to know why I hate you? It’s because you’re such a fucking hypocrite.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘And this is because … ?’

‘You act like you’re better than all the rest of us,’ Rachel said. Her voice became high and mocking. ‘Oh, look at me, I’m Alex Verus! All those other mages are so mean and nasty, but I’m different, I’d never do anything like that!’ She looked at me in disgust. ‘You’re in it for yourself, just like everyone else. That’s why you left Richard.’

‘I left Richard because of what he did.’

‘Bullshit,’ Rachel said. ‘If you’d cared so much, you never would have signed up. You knew what Richard was, we all did. You knew exactly what being his apprentice was going to mean.’

‘Yeah, well, maybe I was slow on the uptake,’ I said. ‘Or maybe I just decided I didn’t like what I was turning into.’

‘Right, because you changed,’ Rachel said. ‘You used to be one of those evil Dark mages, but now you’ve seen the light and turned over a new leaf. That’s the story you tell everyone, isn’t it?’

‘And what if it is?’ I said, nettled. I’d meant to just keep Rachel talking, but she was getting to me. ‘Just because you can’t change, doesn’t mean no one else can.’

‘You never changed,’ Rachel said. ‘You left Richard because you couldn’t handle taking orders.’

‘I left because of what happened to those two kids.’

‘Oh please. You’ve killed more people than most Dark mages do in their whole lives. What, you think it’s different when you do it? You do the same things they do, you’re just more self-righteous about it. You really wanted to be so good and pure, you would have got out a long time ago. You didn’t because you wanted the same things. You wanted to be powerful and feared. And that’s why you’re on the fucking Council right now.’

‘I got this job because your boss forced me into being Morden’s aide at gunpoint,’ I snapped. ‘You have a problem with that, take it up with him.’

‘Yeah?’ Rachel said. ‘So if you hated it so much, why haven’t you quit?’

‘I …’ I trailed off.

‘Go on, Alex, tell me.’ Rachel took a step forward, glaring at me. ‘Why haven’t you? Not like it’s hard! Then you could go back to that stupid shop you won’t shut up about. Except you won’t, because that’s not enough for you, is it? You want to be the boss, you just don’t have the balls to admit it.’

‘And you don’t?’ I said angrily. ‘You gave up everything to be where you are now. You killed everyone who got in your way. The only reason you didn’t kill me as well was that I didn’t give you the chance!’

‘I paid my dues,’ Rachel said coldly. ‘Richard taught us that. Take what you want, and pay for it. But you never listened, did you? You thought you could get it all for free. Richard held up his end of the deal. You were the one who betrayed him. And you’ve been doing the same thing ever since. You trick people into listening to you, they give you an inch, then you fuck them over and leave them holding the bag. You think I haven’t seen what you’ve been doing, trying to use me to get to Richard? How stupid do you think I am?’

Okay, time to give up on that plan. ‘You’d still be better off without him.’

‘You don’t care whether I’d be better off without him,’ Rachel said. ‘You want us apart because it makes us weak, and you want Richard weak because you’re scared of him, because he’s the one person you’ve never been able to con or trick. You want Richard’s power, but you’re too scared to earn it.’ Rachel stared at me. ‘And you wonder why I hate you.’

I didn’t say anything.

‘You know what else I think?’ Rachel said. ‘I think if she isn’t doing her job, it doesn’t matter that much if she’s alive.’

My divination gave me just enough warning. As the green ray stabbed out from Rachel’s hand, I shoved Meredith left while using the momentum to push myself right. The ray passed between us as I grabbed Luna’s hand and the two of us went over the balcony railing.

Air rushed past and my stomach dropped. Shouts and screams sounded from below. I broke my life ring just in time and air magic caught us, slowing our rate of fall. For one heart-stopping moment I thought that we were too heavy, that the ring didn’t have enough power for two, then we slowed just in time and hit the floor in the centre of a circle of scattering people.

Luna and I scrambled to our feet. Looking upwards, I saw Rachel’s white face glaring down at us from the balcony. Meredith was nowhere to be seen. ‘Okay, interesting conversational strategy,’ Luna said, pulling stray strands of mist off me from our fall. ‘Did it work?’

‘We’re alive, aren’t we?’ I muttered. Rachel wasn’t firing on us yet; maybe even she wasn’t willing to shoot into a crowd.

‘I guess,’ Luna said. ‘But Alex? Wasn’t the plan not to be in the middle of the crowd when it turned nasty?’

I looked around to see that the entire crowd of adepts was staring at us. We’d even attracted enough attention to distract them from Richard. And as I thought about Richard, I looked up to see him staring down right at us.

Variam’s voice spoke into my ear. ‘Fire in the hole.’

Richard met my gaze, and even at a distance, I saw him smile.

The main doors burst open with a thundering boom. Turning, I saw Council security and mages in combat gear come pouring through the doorway. Shouts and screams came from the crowd of adepts, people trying to push away from the Council security and finding nowhere to go. We had the Keeper force on one side, Richard’s cabal on the other, and a crowd of panicking adepts all around us.

‘You know,’ I told Luna, ‘this is turning into a really crappy night out.’

The Council security formed a line, a long semicircle of grim-faced men holding sub-machine-guns levelled at the crowd, and behind them came the Keepers, surrounded by glowing shields of red and white and blue. Yells rang out as the adepts backed away. The Keeper ranks parted and a man stepped forward.