Fallen

chapter 15

“I can’t believe you actually made that work,” Luna told me.

“I can,” I said. It was the next day, and we were walking in the Hollow, the woods alive with the sounds of the summer morning. I’d just finished filling Luna in on the events of last night.

“If I’d told you I was going to do something like that, you’d have said I was suicidal.”

“I figured my chances were around two in three. Maybe a little more.”

Luna gave me a sceptical look. “How?”

“So it all started with Richard,” I said. It was a relief to be able to talk like this, walking with Luna without any immediate dangers to worry about. “Back when Anne and I visited him in his mansion two years ago, I looked into the futures to see what would happen if I attacked him. And it was close, really close. I couldn’t see who was going to win.”

“Okay.”

“Except that it shouldn’t have been,” I said. “I mean, even if I didn’t believe the rumours, I saw what Richard could do later that year, in the Vault. There was no way I could have taken him in a fight. Once I noticed that, I started trying to figure out how my divination could have been so wrong. And the most obvious answer I could come up with was that Richard had some kind of ability that worked against it. Like a shroud that worked in the future instead of the past, letting him project false futures. And the most natural way he’d be able to do that was if he was some kind of diviner himself. The aftermath of the Vault fight fit with that as well. The one time I landed a punch on him, it was when I acted on impulse without giving him the time to see it coming.”

“But we already talked about whether Richard might be a diviner,” Luna said. “Lots of times. You were the one who said it didn’t feel right.”

I nodded. “Because it didn’t. He was too confident, as though no one could touch him. It didn’t fit with someone whose only ability was seeing the future. It wasn’t until I realised that he had a jinn as well that it made sense. A jinn’s power, mixed with a diviner’s knowledge. I couldn’t test it, not without tipping my hand, but I was sure. The thing is, it also made me realise just how screwed I was. He could do everything I could do, plus he could counter what I could do, and if somehow that wasn’t enough, he had the jinn to fall back on as well.”

“That was before you had the fateweaver.”

“The fateweaver was big, but it wasn’t enough,” I said. “Sure, it’s powerful, but Richard’s gone up against plenty of people with raw power and come out ahead. I knew I needed something more. So I turned things around. I started thinking about how I’d beat myself. I thought back over all the times that my divination hadn’t worked, and looked at all the things they had in common. And there were three. Sometimes I couldn’t predict someone’s actions at all, either because they were deciding on the spur of the moment or because they were just too unstable. Sometimes I could predict what was happening, but didn’t have the power to do anything about it. And finally, there were times when I was caught out looking in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“So which one did you go for?” Luna asked.

“All of them at once,” I said. “I got Richard to focus on me when he should have been watching Rachel and Meredith. Once Rachel took her shot, I used the fateweaver to make sure it’d hit. And Richard wasn’t able to see it coming far enough away, because it was Rachel. She’s always been a nightmare for me to predict because she’s so crazy.”

“So that was what that dragon was getting at with that prophecy.”

I nodded. “With anyone else, it wouldn’t have worked. Either they wouldn’t have been unstable enough to snap the way she did, or Richard wouldn’t have trusted them enough to turn his back on them. Rachel was just the right combination of close enough and unbalanced enough. And with Meredith’s magic, they couldn’t see what was happening until it was too late.”

“Can’t believe she was actually useful.” Luna thought for a moment. “I’m still not sure if we won. I mean, on one level, I guess you did. You finally did what the Council’s been failing at for years. You screwed up Richard’s plans. He’s been working towards getting Anne on his side for God knows how long, and when he finally does it, you break her free.”

“But?”

“But . . .” Luna trailed off. “I don’t know. I know it’s silly, but I guess I was hoping that once Richard’s control was gone, she’d come back.”

I didn’t answer. A part of me had been hoping the same thing.

“How did you know you’d have so much time?” Luna said, returning to her original question. “I mean, the only reason it worked was because Richard let you stand there and talk.”

“Actually, that was the one thing I wasn’t worried about. I knew he was going to hear me out.”

“But he had to know you had some kind of agenda.”

“Of course he did,” I said. “I was being careful not to tell any blatant lies, and I was keeping my surface thoughts focused so Crystal couldn’t get wind of what I was doing. But there was no way Richard was going to trust me. He knew I was playing some sort of game.”

“So why did he let you do it?” Luna said.

“Because he was sure he was going to win,” I said. “Because he’d always won before. When someone loses to you nineteen times in a row, then comes back and sits down at the table yet again, you don’t chase him off. You laugh and get ready to take his money for the twentieth time. Every single time I’d tried to outsmart Richard, I’d lost. Except this one.”

“I don’t think I’d have had the nerve,” Luna admitted.

“It’s a lot easier to face your fears once you’ve got something you care about more than yourself.” I glanced through the futures. “We should get moving.”

We changed direction, angling through the woods until the trees parted before us to reveal the clearing with Karyos’s cocoon. “How long?” Luna asked.

“More than two minutes, less than ten,” I said. “But there’s no violence. Whatever kind of state she’s going to be in, she’ll be willing to talk at least.”

“I wish Vari could be here.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I said. Variam had been almost completely out of contact since last night. “They just had a member of the Senior Council killed in a straight-up attack. I don’t think that’s happened since the Gate Rune War. They’re going to be in full-on emergency mode, and once they figure out I had something to do with it—which they will—then they’ll come after me twice as hard. I don’t think Vari’s going to be able to come back here anytime soon.”

“It feels wrong,” Luna said. “Vari was here when we won this shadow realm. He ought to be here for the end.”

“I think it’s going to be more and more dangerous for Vari to have anything to do with me,” I said. “For him to keep seeing you will be hard enough.”

Luna made a face. “No Arachne, no Anne, no Vari. Starting to feel a bit lonely around here.”

There was a cracking sound from the cocoon. We both turned to look.

A fracture had appeared in the curved surface, and as we watched there was another crack and the fracture widened. Although the cocoon was wood, the way it broke made me think of an egg. The cracks spread across its surface, and the top near the trunk began to peel away. A hand appeared, then Karyos stood up, the cocoon unfolding like the petals of a flower.

She didn’t look like a hamadryad. She looked like an eight-year-old girl. Maybe her skin was a shade of gold not quite natural for a human, and maybe her brown hair had a suggestion of bark, but there was no trace of the monstrosity of roots and thorns that we’d fought in the Hollow on our first meeting. She swayed on unsteady legs, and had to catch the cocoon to stop herself from falling.

“Welcome back, Karyos,” I said. “Can you understand us?”

Karyos looked at us both uncertainly. “Who are you?” she asked in slow, accented English.

“I’m Luna,” Luna said with a friendly smile and a wave. “Hey.”

“And I’m Alex,” I said. “We’re your . . . well, guardians, I guess. At least for now.”

Karyos looked around, turning her head as if searching for something. “Is something wrong?” Luna asked.

“There was . . . someone else,” Karyos said haltingly. “I felt her. When I was growing.”

Luna started to reply, then looked at me. I hesitated a moment before answering. “She’s not here anymore.”

Hampstead Heath was warm in the afternoon sun. Carried on the wind, I could hear the sounds of people talking, children playing, the barking of dogs. It felt like a different world.

The ravine where Arachne had lived was cordoned off with blue-and-white tape marked POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS, swaying gently in the breeze. I ducked under the tape and climbed down into the ravine. The entrance to Arachne’s cave gaped open with more tape blocking it.

The tunnel felt cool and gloomy after the bright daylight outside. I walked blind down the slope, my feet falling automatically into the old familiar path. My footsteps echoed as I came out into the cavern. Guided by my magic, I walked to one of the walls, touched one of the sphere lights, and channelled.

Light bloomed, revealing devastation. Arachne’s lair had been torn apart, bolts of cloth shaken out and trampled, cushions cut open, furniture overturned and splintered. Everything valuable had been looted, and the debris scattered. I walked slowly through the wreckage until I found the sofa where I used to sit. It had been knocked over, the bottom slashed open with the stuffing pulled out. I bent down and righted it, then sat down in my old place. The springs sagged.

I looked around sadly. After the old Arcana Emporium had been destroyed, Arachne’s cave had been the one place I’d felt at home. It had been the last remnant of my old life, back when I’d wake up in the morning knowing that the biggest problem I’d be likely to face would be someone wanting me to sell them a love potion. Now it was gone.

I sat waiting for ten minutes, the light behind me flickering occasionally. My right arm itched and I pulled up the sleeve of my coat to look.

The white streaks of the fateweaver reached halfway from my wrist to my elbow. Back when Klara had examined me, I’d had the feeling they were spreading, but I hadn’t been sure. There was no room for doubt now. I scratched but the itch didn’t go away.

Footsteps sounded from the tunnel. I pulled my sleeve down and turned towards the entrance.

A faint green light showed from the tunnel mouth, then winked out. A moment later Anne stepped out, looking in my direction. “I had a feeling it was you.”

The black aura surrounding Anne was gone: to a casual glance, she looked a normal girl. “I would have given you a lift if you’d asked.”

“What, so you can drop me in some prison until you figure out how to change me back? No thanks.” Anne walked across the cavern, kicking aside bits of wreckage. “Nice job with the dreamstone. I knew Deleo was a nutcase, but I wasn’t expecting that.”

“That was the idea.”

“Well, I don’t really care how it works so long as it works.” Anne glanced across at me. “Weird-looking hand. What is it?”

She doesn’t know. It was a surprise, but as I thought about it, it made sense. Anne was a life mage, not a diviner. She could tell everything there was to know about someone’s physiology, but that wouldn’t tell her what the fateweaver did.

Anne tossed a broken chair out of her way and stepped up to the wall. “Well, while you’re here, make yourself useful and tell me how to open this thing.”

I looked briefly at the futures. “Move your right hand twelve inches higher and six inches to the left.”

Anne did as I said. There was a click, and a crack appeared in the wall, revealing a hidden alcove. “Thanks,” Anne called over her shoulder. “I mean, I could have ripped it apart, but it’s such a drag . . . Here we go.”

Anne had taken out something black and yielding from where it had been hidden in the shielded compartment. She shook it out and held it up against her, the dark cloth falling against her skin. It was the dress that Arachne had made for her, a few days and a lifetime ago. I wondered if Arachne had known which Anne would be the one to finally wear it.

“Not even torn,” Anne said. “Nice.” She looked at me. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Going to turn your back?”

I thought for a moment. “I don’t think I’m going to be turning my back on you anytime soon.”

Anne laughed. “What did you do with the old Alex? Well, I think I like the new one better anyway.” She began stripping off her clothes with a complete lack of concern.

I watched as Anne pulled off her top and dropped it on the floor. “Luna misses you.”

“So tell her to call,” Anne said, kicking off her jeans.

“Do you want her to?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t I? I’m still the same person. Just got a slightly different perspective, you know?” Anne pulled Arachne’s dress over her head, wiggling her arms through the straps, then smoothed it down before looking around. “Damn, they broke all the mirrors. How do I look?”

I looked at Anne: she twirled, letting the skirt flare out. “It suits you,” I said. “Actually, better than it did before.”

“Well, duh.” Anne walked forward, the black dress swirling around her knees. “So why’d you come here?”

“Same reason as Luna, really,” I said. “I wanted to see if I could talk you into coming back.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a funny feeling your reasons and Luna’s might be slightly different.” Anne came to a stop ten feet away and looked down with a smile, one hand resting on her hip. “Anyway, going to have to turn you down. Things to do, places to be.”

“What kind of things?”

“Well, first on the agenda is settling old scores,” Anne said. “I mean, what’s the point of unlimited power if you can’t take horrible vengeance on all the people who’ve screwed you over? Crystal and Sal Sarque were a good start. But right now, there are two others at the top of the list. I think you can guess who they are, right? Only reason I came here instead of going straight after them is that I’m having a really hard time figuring out which one I hate most.”

“And then what?” I said. “You’re going to keep working your way down the list?”

“Sure, why not? One of the things that pissed me off most about you guys was that live-and-let-live attitude. We’ve had so many people try to kill us I’ve lost track of them all, and you never did a damn thing about it. I figure it’s time for some payback.” Anne tilted her head. “Want to come along?”

“You mean that?”

“Sure, why not?” Anne said. “I mean, pretty much all of them are your enemies too. It’ll be just like when we were on the Council, except instead of going to meetings, we kill people we don’t like. Who knows, you might end up deciding you like the new me. Trust me, anything she can do, I can do better.”

It was more tempting than it should have been. “And what does the jinn get out of all this?”

Anne shrugged. “Stuff.”

“It’s not helping you for free,” I said. “So what’s the price?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“You should have paid more attention to Arachne, Anne,” I said. “Jinn hate humans, and they hate mages most of all. Whatever it wants, long term, it’s not going to end well for you.”

“I don’t really care about long term,” Anne said. “But fine. How about a compromise? I’ll start at my end of the list, and you start at yours, and once we’ve met in the middle, we can have a showdown. Or a date. Or both.”

“If you think that jinn’s going to serve you, you’re a fool,” I said. “I’ve seen these kinds of partnerships, and they never end well for the human. But you’re right about one thing. For now at least, we have the same enemies.”

“Sounds good.” Anne gave me a wave and turned to go. “Later.”

“Anne,” I said.

Anne paused and looked back.

“I didn’t do this to settle old scores,” I said. “I did it for you. And one way or another, I’m going to protect you.”

Anne laughed. “Oh, Alex. I don’t need protecting anymore. It’s everyone else who needs protecting from me.”

I watched Anne go, listening to her footsteps recede up the tunnel until they faded into silence. I was sure of one thing: in the contest between Anne and the jinn, Anne was going to lose. Right now, the jinn might be giving her everything she wanted, but it could afford to. All it had to do was wait.

I guess we’re both on a clock.

I got to my feet. I had work to do.