Marked

12

The man leading the Keepers had thinning hair and a steady stride, and a translucent shield of air magic shimmered around him. I’d seen him before in the War Rooms: this was Nimbus, the Director of Operations for the Order of the Star. ‘Mage Drakh,’ he called out. He didn’t raise his voice, but his words echoed like thunder across the room. ‘You are under arrest on suspicion of violation of the first and second clauses of the Concord. You will order your followers to stand down and come with us.’

Richard stood in plain view on the balcony, looking down at the Council force. If he was worried, he wasn’t showing any sign of it. ‘You would start a battle in the middle of an innocent crowd?’ Like Nimbus, Richard’s voice rang out across the club floor. ‘Is this Council policy nowadays?’

‘The only one intending to start a battle is you,’ Nimbus said. ‘Cooperate, and no one will be harmed.’

A barely perceptible ripple went through the crowd. I looked around for a way out. We weren’t that far from the doors, but there were a lot of people in the way.

‘Thank you for the invitation,’ Richard said. ‘I respectfully decline.’

‘Don’t play games, Drakh.’ Nimbus’s voice was hard. ‘This building is surrounded and your cabal is outnumbered. You are not fighting your way out of here.’

Alex! It was Anne’s voice. We’ve got trouble.

Thanks, Anne, I noticed. At least Rachel wasn’t eyeballing us from the balcony any more.

‘Fighting our way out?’ Richard’s voice was calm. ‘You should worry about yourself.’

Figures stepped up behind Richard on the balcony. Rachel was there on Richard’s left side, with Cinder flanking her. There were other mages too, most of them masked, destructive spells crackling around them. On Richard’s right, though, was a shape I didn’t recognise. It looked like a woman, taller than Richard, but shaped out of living darkness.

Vihaela’s aura just changed, Anne said. Got a lot less human and a LOT more powerful.

Yeah, I think I’m looking at her, I said. That black shape didn’t have a face, but with Richard standing right next to it I could judge its size, and it was Vihaela’s height. What’s she doing?

I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s dangerous. Don’t get close!

‘Last chance, Drakh,’ Nimbus said. ‘Are we doing this the easy way, or the hard way?’

The flow of reinforcements through the door hadn’t stopped, and more and more Keepers were lining up on either side of Nimbus. I saw Caldera, standing close to Nimbus’s right side, along with Rain. Slate and Trask were there too, and I caught a glimpse of Variam’s turban, meaning that Landis was there as well. There had to be at least thirty Keepers there, and those were just the ones that I could see. The crowd around us was shifting, worried. There was the occasional angry shout or call, but for the most part the adepts packed onto the club floor felt scared. That double line of Council security with levelled guns looked menacing as hell, and the Keepers behind them were even worse. If a fight started the crowd would want to run …

… but run where? The Keepers were blocking the exit. I looked around, craning my neck, and felt a chill. At the far end of the room, I could just see the stairs leading up to the balcony, the ones that had been guarded when Luna and I had been looking for a way up. They weren’t guarded now; instead they were blocked off by heavy metal grates. ‘Verus to Nimbus.’

‘The easy way would be for you to take your men and leave,’ Richard said calmly. ‘But we already know you’re not going to do that.’

‘Hard way it is,’ Nimbus said.

‘Verus to Nimbus,’ I said again. There was no answering chime and I swore. They must be on a different circuit. I could figure out how to get through, with enough time—

Magic glowed around Nimbus and he soared up into the air. ‘This gathering is at an end.’ His voice boomed out around the room. ‘All of you will lie down on the floor and—’

The shape next to Richard raised an arm. Black lightning flashed, tearing through Nimbus’s shield and slamming him against the wall. Nimbus’s head hit the concrete with an audible crack and he dropped from sight.

He hadn’t even hit the ground before everyone opened fire.

Spells flashed out from both sides, fireballs and force blades and bolts of lightning crossing in mid-air. They impacted on shields with a crash, energy flaring in all directions. Screams and shouts came from the adepts, and the second line of security men threw a volley of grenades into the crowd. I had just enough time to push Luna down and shut my eyes before they went off with a sound like the end of the world, blotting out my hearing and knocking me flat.

I struggled back to my feet. Spots flashed before my eyes, and all I could hear was a high-pitched ringing. All around, the crowd was in chaos, people’s mouths opening and closing silently. A warning from my precognition made me twist aside just as a group of adepts charged past.

Luna was still on her hands and knees, shaking her head; she hadn’t had the instant’s warning that I had. Another adept came barrelling towards me; I deflected him out of Luna’s way, caught Luna by one hand and pulled her to her feet. Luna, it’s me. Follow me.

Alex? What’s going on?

Flashbangs. We need to get to cover.

The crowd was panicking, adepts pushing and shoving. I saw a girl go down under a pack and be trampled. Up above I could catch glimpses of the battle, magical attacks soaring overhead in eerie silence. One of the Keepers crossed the room in a single enormous leap, wings of fire trailing behind him. Another bolt of darkness leaped out from that shape next to Richard, knocking him down into the crowd and out of sight.

Alex, are you there? It was Anne’s voice. Don’t get close to Vihaela!

Not my priority right now! An adept cannoned into me and I bounced off, still trying to shield Luna. Another swung a fist, maybe deliberately, maybe in panic. I hit him in the neck and he went down gagging, then I pulled Luna into the shelter of one of the speakers near the wall.

My hearing was starting to come back; I could hear distant shouts and screams. The crowd was a whirl of motion and faces and I couldn’t see what was going on. Vari! I called, reaching for him.

Little busy! Variam shouted back.

Can you patch me through to whoever’s in charge?

No! Nimbus was the only one with the permissions to do that and he’s down. Stop distracting me!

I swore, then pushed myself up on the speaker, craning my neck for a view. The crowd of adepts was a panicking mob. On the near side of the room, the line of Council security was holding, but on the far side they were engaged in a mêlée, batons and fists rising and falling. I couldn’t hear gunfire yet but I knew it wouldn’t take long. Spells still flew back and forth between the Keepers and the Dark mages on the balcony, but the layers of overlapping shields on both sides were holding off the attacks.

Right now it was hard to see who was winning, but I’d spent a lot of time working with Council forces over the past year and I could tell that they were leaderless. Their two wings were disjointed, uncoordinated. I looked to the right and saw the door Luna and I had used earlier, still unguarded. I could get it open, try to fight my way up to Richard and Vihaela …

I hesitated for a long moment, then dropped down. Luna. You’re okay for me to leave you?

I … yeah. Go do your thing.

I turned and walked towards the line of Council security, tearing Arachne’s bracelet off my wrist and dropping it to the floor. The spell fizzled away and I was myself again. The crowd around me didn’t notice: they were far too busy pushing and shoving to get away from the men with guns. I twisted, letting them bounce off me, as I pulled out my wallet and took out a sheet of paper, unfolding it just as the crowd parted to leave me face to face with the Council security line.

Three or four sub-machine-guns shifted to point at me. I kept walking forward at a steady pace, holding up the sheet of paper in plain view. ‘I’m Mage Verus of the Junior Council.’ I had to shout to be heard over the yells and roars. I pointed at one of the security men. ‘Who’s your commanding officer?’

The security men hesitated, their eyes flickering from me to the paper. ‘Uh …’ the guy I’d addressed began.

‘Take me to him.’ I folded up the paper, sticking it back into my pocket, giving the men just enough time to see the letterhead, but no more. It was a memo on parking regulations outside the War Rooms. ‘Rest of you, hold the line.’ I walked straight through the guns, which wavered, then went back to pointing back in the direction of the crowd.

Somehow no one questioned me. The line closed up behind me as the security man led me through the ranks, ducking as bolts of fire screamed overhead. I was searching with my eyes and my divination, looking for order in the chaos, and I spotted it before the security man did, changing direction towards the steps leading up to the exit.

There was a small knot of figures there, and at the centre was Rain. He’s a captain in the Order of the Star, and my old boss, tall and dark-skinned and intense. Right now he was holding a blue-tinged shield in a bubble over the Keeper ranks, while arguing with a mage behind him. Other Keepers stood around him, their attention on the long-range battle with the Dark mages on the balcony. ‘I don’t care!’ Rain was saying. ‘He’s not around and we need those men!’

‘Rain!’ I shouted.

Rain’s head snapped around. ‘Verus? What the hell are you doing here?’

‘Your left flank’s overextended,’ I told him. ‘If they keep pushing forward it’s going to turn into a bloodbath. I need command of this force, now.’

‘What?’ Caldera appeared from behind Rain. ‘You can’t—’

‘I’m a Council member and with Nimbus down, I’m taking tactical command,’ I said. I didn’t take my eyes off Rain. ‘Rain. Please?’

Rain hesitated for a long moment, then nodded. ‘All right. What do you need?’

I pointed out towards the adepts. ‘That crowd is panicking. They’re trying to run, but there’s nowhere for them to run to. If your line of men keeps pushing they’re going to start trampling each other and they’ll end up fighting like rats in a trap. We need to move this whole force to the right. Stand aside and let the crowd funnel out through these doors.’

‘We’re here to detain them, not let them get away,’ Caldera said angrily.

‘That crowd outnumbers you ten to one,’ I told her. ‘Right now they’re in too much of a panic to remember that. If you try arresting them one at a time, that’s going to change. Either way, this is not a request. I’m giving you an order as a member of the Junior Council. If you can’t follow it, get out of the way and leave it to someone who can!’

Caldera glared at me and I turned to Rain. ‘You take the left flank. Pull them back. I’ll take charge of the right.’

Rain nodded and turned away, pushing his way through towards the left. Okay. I took a breath and turned back the way I came. Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention and I pointed. ‘Slate. Trask. You two, with me.’

Slate gave me a narrow look. A stocky and tough-looking death mage, he’d never liked me even back when I was with the Order of the Star, but he was one of the few of the Keepers I was sure wasn’t corrupt. ‘Doing what?’

‘You going to follow orders or not?’

Slate scowled but didn’t argue. I kept moving and felt the two of them move in behind me. Up ahead, I could see that the right flank of the Council lines was stable. The battle mages were still taking shots at each other, but everyone had had enough time to get shields up. A couple of security men had gone down to something I hadn’t seen; ahead, a scattering of adepts were on the floor as well. There was a no-man’s-land between the two groups maybe fifty feet wide.

I strode out into the open, turning to face the line of Council security. ‘All right, boys!’ I had to shout at the top of my voice. ‘Everyone move to the right in an orderly fashion! Yes, I said right!’ I swept my arms to get the message across, pointing. ‘You! Stop staring and move your arse!’

Some of the security men hesitated, and I caught mutterings.

‘… is he?’

‘… no, that’s Verus, I saw …’

‘… why? I thought—’

‘Hey!’ I yelled. ‘This isn’t a fucking committee!’

I had my back to the crowd of adepts, some of whom were definitely turning hostile. A projectile of some sort went whistling over my shoulder. I ignored it and kept shepherding the security men as they started to move. ‘That’s it. Steady pace.’

A future of my death flashed up on my precognition. I sidestepped and a bullet went whining through the space my head had been occupying, ricochetting off the floor. One of the security men grunted and stumbled. I pointed. ‘You, get him on his feet, pull him back. Slate, get rid of that sniper.’

‘What sniper?’ Slate shouted back. ‘I can’t see shit!’

I turned and walked towards the adepts, my arms spread wide, making myself as obvious a target as possible. The adepts on the ground fell back, but my eyes were scanning the walls. There. I saw a twitch of movement in a small balcony high on the left wall, a mirror image to the one Meredith had been using. I turned and walked back towards Slate, absent-mindedly twisting my head aside to avoid a second bullet, and pointed over my shoulder. ‘Top balcony, ten o’clock. Kill him, please, he’s getting on my nerves.’

Slate lifted his hand and energy gathered for a spell. I was already turning away, scanning the club floor. The mêlée on the left flank was still going on, but I could see Rain in the middle of the crowd, pulling people aside and restoring order. The Keeper force with the line of security men wheeled to the right under my direction, shifting anticlockwise around the wall.

With the adepts separated, the Keepers were free to focus on Richard’s group. Concentrated fire hammered the balcony, but the black shape at Richard’s side had some kind of dome up that deflected the attacks with ease. Richard didn’t even seem to be fighting; he was focused on something he was holding in one hand.

Alex, what are you doing? It was Anne’s voice. You’re right out in the middle!

That lifesight of yours is pretty precise, isn’t it? I picked out a strand from the futures and turned to shout at a couple of the security men. ‘You two! Down!’

One of the men didn’t hear, but his partner dragged him down just as a volley of metal spheres flew overhead, striking chips from the wall behind. I saw the adept who’d taken the shot, a skinny kid trying to hide in the crowd. There was an unused flashbang lying on the floor, and I pulled the pin and lobbed it. The flashbang flew through a neat arc and exploded right in the kid’s face just as he popped up for another shot. He disappeared under the feet of his companions.

Anne sounded more frustrated than worried. You’re going to get killed!

I appreciate the thought, but you’re kind of distracting me.

I was starting to attract serious attention. Another bullet whined past my head, followed by two more. I didn’t have time to track their location; a blast of flame scorched the floor where I was standing and I had to jump aside, heat rolling over my skin and clothes. I dodged two more projectiles and a force blade, then felt a surge of magic from the balcony, life magic mixed with something darker. I turned back just in time to see the black shape next to Richard pointing at me. Bolts of darkness arrowed down.

The world went black as the spells struck, blotting out everything around me with a crash. It was over in an instant and I was left unharmed. The spells had struck precisely on either side of where I’d been standing. I looked up at the black shape and gave it a half-bow, half-salute. Guess I should be glad Vihaela and Richard don’t want me dead just yet.

Turning around, I saw that several of the Council security had stopped to stare at me. ‘Come on, people!’ I yelled at them. ‘This isn’t a spectator sport!’ I ducked another bullet then strode towards them. ‘You’re nearly there, just—’

The force mage up on the balcony made more of an effort this time. A storm of blades converged on me.

A shield of fire flared up, orange-red and roaring. The force blades struck the barrier and disintegrated, and Landis leaned out from the battle line, lanky and relaxed. ‘Verus,’ he called over. ‘Not that I don’t appreciate you encouraging the troops, but perhaps you might see your way back to the lines?’

Looking back, I saw that the Council force had done as I’d ordered. The security men had moved around to the side, leaving the main exit clear. The crowd of adepts had an open path to the doorway, but they were hesitating. To get to the exit, they’d have to run across the Council security’s line of fire.

‘The way out clear?’ I called to Landis.

‘It’s been taken care of.’

‘You have a mind mage with you?’

‘Gladius should fit your bill.’

‘Good.’ I pointed at the line of adepts. ‘Tell him to make a few of them run for that exit. Shouldn’t take more than two or three.’

‘The sheep and the flock, eh?’ Landis put one hand to his ear and began talking. I turned towards the adepts, watching, tense. Spells were still flying overhead.

Twenty seconds passed, then suddenly one of the adepts broke away from the crowd, followed an instant later by a second, then a third. They kept running, crossing the floor. Hundreds of adepts watched with bated breath as they reached the exit and disappeared through it, one, two, three.

There was an instant’s pause, then one other guy took a step forward and, as though it had been a signal, the whole crowd followed. They moved faster and faster until they were running, charging for the open doors.

‘Stand down!’ I yelled at the top of my voice. ‘Let them pass!’ But the noise was tremendous and I knew that most of them couldn’t hear. The crowd charged forward, wild-eyed and stampeding. They were trying to steer clear of the security line, but sheer numbers were causing the swarm to bulge outwards.

A future jumped out at me: gunfire, adepts falling to be trampled under the mob. I caught a glimpse of one of the security men raising his gun. There wasn’t time to pass an order; without thinking I reached out through the dreamstone and hammered at him, screaming fear and nameless threat across the distance between us. I saw him flinch and step back; an instant later Rain was there, shouting at him and pushing down his gun.

The crowd of adepts reached the exit and poured through. Off to one side I could see Caldera, watching the stream of people with a sour look on her face, but my heart lifted as I saw they weren’t going to stop. I turned to Landis. ‘Landis. You and five other Keepers, with me. We’re going to go hit these bastards from behind.’

‘Lovely!’ Landis rubbed his hands together. ‘Just show us where to go, Verus, there’s a good chap.’

Luna was waiting at the door we’d used earlier. She still had her wand out, but the security men nearby had their guns pointed away from her; apparently she’d managed to convince them she was on their side. ‘Alex!’ she called as I drew closer. ‘Door’s locked.’

‘Slate?’ I called over my shoulder.

I could feel Slate’s annoyance, but he didn’t hesitate. A kinetic bolt punched the lock out of the door and I kicked it open without breaking stride. ‘You and your squad, with us,’ I called, pointing at a sergeant. ‘Stay behind and cover our flanks.’ I walked through into the machine room, Landis and the other Keepers right behind.

I didn’t waste time on subtlety this time around. With my divination I could see a path that would take us straight to Richard’s balcony, and I led my group straight down the main corridor. One of Jagadev’s men waited in ambush down a side passage; I saw him before we were anywhere near and gestured with one hand, pointing through the wall. Landis sent a fireball curving over my shoulder and around the corner to explode in a flash and a sharp whoompf. There was a scream, abruptly cut off.

‘Alex, Landis!’ Variam called through the communicator. ‘They’re moving!’

‘Moving where?’ I said, then called back over my shoulder. ‘Trask! Fire traps just after that second door up ahead, thirty foot spread.’

From behind, Trask wove a spell. Water magic flowed past, sweeping down the corridor. Red energy met blue with a flash and a hiss, the heat extinguishing.

‘Richard and Vihaela just vanished,’ Variam said. ‘The others are doing a fighting retreat.’

‘Shit.’ I turned and yelled, ‘Double time!’ then broke into a jog. Steam rolled away from the heated concrete as I ran through the disabled trap.

‘What’s going on?’ Luna yelled from behind.

‘They’re running!’ I called back. ‘Need to cut them off!’

We sprinted through the Tiger’s Palace. I listened with one ear to the reports from Variam and with another to Landis, trying to locate us in my mental map of the place. Richard was abandoning the adepts, pulling his team back. ‘He’s heading for the west wing,’ I called back to Landis. ‘Pull teams from the east and reinforce that perimeter!’

‘Our perimeter squad won’t last long against that lot,’ Landis warned.

‘I know, we’re going to have to catch— ah shit. Everyone back!’

The mages behind me slowed to a trot. We’d lost most of the Council security; Slate had been marking them off in ones and twos behind us, guarding the intersections. The corridor we’d been following ended in a stairway going up. I walked to the foot of the stairs.

Green and black death struck like a thunderbolt. I was already jumping back, the bolt crashing into the concrete where I’d been standing. The follow-up was instant, a black mote flying down the stairs to bloom into a sphere, and I only barely made it out of the spell’s radius. Death energy washed over me, stinging and numbing my skin. ‘Goddamn it, Vihaela!’ I yelled up at her. Those ones had not been aimed to miss. ‘Make up your mind!’

Vihaela’s laugh floated down the stairs. ‘Sorry, Verus. No more freebies.’

‘Not this bitch again,’ Slate growled. ‘Flank her?’

I shook my head. ‘It’d take too long.’

Landis cocked his head for a moment, listening. ‘Help’s on the way.’

‘We can only attack one at a time up these stairs.’ I looked at Landis. ‘Can you take her one-on-one?’

‘Thought you’d never ask.’

‘Come on, boys,’ Vihaela called down. ‘I’m getting lonely up here.’

Landis was moving along the wall, getting into position. ‘So how come you aren’t powered up any more?’ I shouted at Vihaela. I’d had a glimpse of her through the futures and she looked human again. ‘Did you run out of rings and have to turn back into regular Sonic?’

‘I can’t really follow the reference,’ Vihaela called back, ‘but if you’re asking why I’m not pulling out anything special, I’m not feeling pressured enough. Why don’t you do something about that?’

‘Funny you should ask.’

Landis stepped out around the corner. Vihaela struck instantly, but a barrier of flame roared into existence in front of Landis, intercepting her attack. Landis started climbing the stairs, moving slowly and steadily, one hand up maintaining the shield. Green and black flashes showed through the barrier as Vihaela’s spells struck it, but they weren’t getting through.

‘Come on!’ Slate shouted, running forward.

‘No, wait!’ I said, frowning. Something was wrong. I’d seen Landis go up against Vihaela before and they were closely matched. He shouldn’t be able to push her off the high ground this quickly. What’s she planning?

‘We can back him up!’ Slate said. But he didn’t move forward, and neither did Trask.

‘Wait,’ I said again, looking through the futures. It was hard seeing past the chaos of combat, but there were commonalities. Landis took another step up; he was almost out of sight.

Then suddenly I saw what Vihaela was planning. There was no time to talk; instead I reached out through the dreamstone, hammering a connection through. Landis, it’s a trap, get back NOW!

Landis moved instantly, jumping back down the stairs. As he did there was a flash and a hollow boom as the stairwell exploded, chunks of concrete flying out to be melted by his shield. Landis touched down and with a rumbling shudder, the stairway collapsed. A cloud of dust and smoke rolled over us.

‘What the fuck?’ Slate said, coughing and waving his hand in front of his face.

‘Demolition charge,’ I said curtly. Vihaela had been holding off on pulling the trigger, probably waiting until Landis was standing right on top of it. ‘Landis, you okay?’

‘Quite all right, thank you.’ Landis slapped at his shoulders, sending concrete dust puffing into the air. ‘That mine was quite deep-buried, wasn’t it? Would almost think they knew we were coming.’

‘Yeah, no shit. Slate, can you smash a way through?’

Slate and one of the other mages were inspecting where the foot of the stairs had been. The smoke was clearing to reveal a massive pile of rubble. ‘It’ll take all day to get through this shit,’ Slate said sourly. ‘We need Caldera.’

One of the other mages started talking into his communicator and I cursed. Too slow! ‘Come on,’ I called and started running in a different direction. If I got back far enough we could use the first floor corridor …

I’d made it up the stairs and had just started to double back when I felt the gate magic pulse. I’d been talking to Variam through the dreamstone, getting him to help organise the perimeter defence, but as soon as I sensed the spell, I stopped. Wait, I told Variam. Never mind.

What was that that just went off?

Gate spell. I slowed to a walk. There was no point hurrying any more.

I thought we had a ward up against that?

Yeah, so did I. I kept going, though I doubted there was much point. It was technically possible that some of the Dark mages might have stuck around, but I really doubted it. It’s over. Tell the others I’ll be down once I’ve had the chance to find out the details of exactly how this got screwed up so hard. I doubt I’ll be long.

‘So what’s the butcher’s bill?’ I asked Landis.

It was half an hour later. The club floor had been converted into an improvised headquarters, prison and field hospital, with mages standing around talking and directing security personnel. Over at the far side, Anne and a couple of other life mages were healing the wounded. The adepts from the crowd who’d been too slow or injured to escape were in a huddle against the wall, guarded by a security detail. Rain was out on a perimeter sweep, and Variam and Luna were deeper inside the building. The air was filled with the buzz of talk and orders.

‘Seventeen,’ Landis said. ‘Three of ours, six of theirs and eight from the crowd.’

‘Is that dead or wounded?’

‘Dead,’ Landis said. ‘Total casualties are far higher, of course. Still, the healer corps is doing good work, including your friend Miss Walker. I don’t expect we’ll lose any more.’

‘Who were the three of ours?’

‘Security men. Reynolds, White and Kowalski. All killed by sniper fire from those balconies. They were targeting the Keepers by preference, else it would have been worse. The shields kept the bullets away from the Keepers, but unfortunately most of the security detail were outside the defensive radius.’

I grimaced. I was pretty sure those snipers had been Jagadev’s work. It was the kind of thing he’d have done. ‘I should have figured out quicker where those shots were coming from.’

‘Well, they paid for it in any case. One of the shooters got away, but we took care of the other two. The rest of the casualties were all inflicted while you were pursuing Richard and Vihaela.’

‘Any prisoners?’

‘Several.’

‘Richard’s cabal?’

Landis shook his head. ‘No such luck, I’m afraid. They’ll be interrogated, but none seem particularly knowledgeable. I suspect we’ll find that all were hired muscle.’

‘And meanwhile,’ I said sourly, ‘Richard and Vihaela, along with all their important supporters, have vanished into thin air.’

‘It does appear that way.’

‘The eight from the crowd,’ I said. ‘What happened to them?’

‘Trampled or shot.’

‘I suppose it’s too much to hope that none of them were killed by our own side?’

‘I rather expect so,’ Landis said. ‘I wouldn’t be too hard on the security men. They were being fired upon, and some of those adepts were using quite dangerous attacks.’

‘That’s not how the adepts are going to see it,’ I said, then raised a hand to forestall Landis’s reply. ‘I know, I know. It’s not their fault.’

My earpiece pinged. ‘Boss, Alex,’ Variam said. ‘You there?’

‘Just finishing up,’ Landis said. ‘How goes things up above?’

‘Well, this thing’s definitely a gate focus,’ Variam said. ‘But it’s locked down tight. I don’t know if they sabotaged it, but I can’t get it working and it doesn’t look like anyone else can either. Could use Alex if he’s around.’

‘I’ll take a look,’ I said. ‘We one hundred per cent sure that Richard and his gang used that to get out?’

‘Abeyance says so,’ Variam said. ‘Not like there were many other options.’

‘Yeah,’ I said. The item Variam was studying – a free-standing arch in one of the first-floor rooms – was what we’d found when we’d pursued Richard and Vihaela to their last known location. The interdiction field the Keepers had thrown over the Tiger’s Palace had prevented gate spells, but if you’re willing to spend enough time and effort it’s possible to shield a gate focus against outside interference, rather like laying down a landline to prevent your signal from being jammed. ‘And you know what that means.’

‘Means they not only knew we were coming, they had enough warning to set up stuff like this,’ Variam said. ‘Council’s not going to be happy.’

‘The Council had enough bloody warnings,’ I said shortly.

‘Bet you they still blame it on us.’

‘No bet. Hang around, I’ll be up there in five.’

‘Got it.’

Near the door, I could see Nimbus sitting up with one of the healer corps tending to him. He was looking bad-tempered but didn’t shoo the mage away, possibly because he wasn’t yet able to stand. ‘You think I ought to talk to him?’ I asked Landis, nodding in Nimbus’s direction.

‘I rather suspect it’d be a bad idea,’ Landis said. ‘Our dear friend Nimbus is not the most humble of mages, and I doubt it’ll sit well if you remind him of how he was taken out of the fight in one move. If you’re not interested in making enemies, I’d suggest a discreet withdrawal.’

‘Wonderful,’ I said with a sigh. ‘Then I think I’ll check in with Variam and get the hell out of here.’

‘Oh, Verus?’

I paused, looking back.

‘Good work back there.’

‘Mm,’ I said. ‘There are seventeen bodies that say I could have done a lot better.’

‘It really could have been so much worse,’ Landis said. He patted me on the shoulder. ‘For your first field command, I’d say you did extremely well.’

‘That’s … good to hear.’ Landis might be eccentric, but he’s perceptive. If he gives you a compliment, he means it. ‘So you think this wasn’t a failure?’

‘Tonight was the first skirmish in what I suspect will be quite a long war,’ Landis said. ‘I’d get some rest if I were you. I’m sure you’ll have a busy day explaining all this to the Senior Council tomorrow.’