Taken

chapter 6

The Soho street was noisy, music from a dozen bars blending together into a confusing racket. Neon lights flashed through the shadows, making the dark stone and brickwork flicker red-blue-green. People appeared and disappeared in groups, emerging from doorways and vanishing into the gloom. Buildings went up and up into the darkness, fading into an orange sky, but the lights and crowds couldn’t hide the chill of the winter air.

Luna and I were sheltering in a doorway, looking at the building opposite. It was blacked out, dark except for a neon sign blinking on the roof, and I looked at it for a moment before glancing sideways at Luna. Her face was lit up by the sign above, flickering from red to blue. “Think this is the place?”

“It’s the right number,” Luna said.

I looked into the future, searching for the consequences of us entering that building. “So Anne’s. .” Luna said. “I mean, the guy we’re meeting. He’s a rakshasa?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s a rakshasa?”

“Creatures from India,” I said. “Or maybe they were before India and the Indians just gave them the name. In their true form they’re supposed to look like a cross between a human and a tiger.” I paused. “Oh, and their hands are supposed to be backwards.”

“Backwards?”

“Reversed. The palms are where the backs should be.”

Luna thought about that for a second, then grimaced. “Creepy.” She held up a hand before I could speak. “I know. Don’t judge by appearances, right?”

“Well. . maybe just this once it wouldn’t be a bad idea.” I leant against the cold stone, studying the building opposite. “I don’t know much about rakshasas, but none of what I’ve heard is good. They were supposed to be. . I guess the word would be malevolent. They loved power, especially over thinking creatures. They ruled India once, if the stories are true. They lived in palaces built by their slaves, lords of everything they could see.”

“But that might not be true,” Luna said. “I mean, the apprentices say stuff like that about all magical creatures. Even Arachne. I’ve heard them. And he’s looking after Anne, right?”

“I admit I’m very curious as to what two apprentices like Anne and Variam would be doing with a rakshasa.”

“Maybe there are things he can teach them.”

“Oh, there would be,” I said. “Rakshasas are powerful. The old stories say they were partly divine, not fully bound by the laws of the physical world. I don’t know if it’s true but everyone agrees they’re master shapeshifters. They can change their appearance and form, give themselves abilities that shouldn’t be possible.”

Luna stood quietly for a second. “So. . how well do they usually get on with mages?”

“Have a guess.”

Luna sighed. “Badly.”

I nodded. “For a long time there was a secret war across the Indian subcontinent. The rakshasas won most of the battles but there were never enough of them. Mages could replace their losses; rakshasas couldn’t. In the end there was a treaty and both sides agreed to leave each other alone. But rakshasas are supposed to hold grudges like you wouldn’t believe. This one, Jagadev, was probably alive for that war. Maybe alive for all the others before it. I doubt he’s forgotten.”

“Oh,” Luna said. She paused. “And this is the guy whose home we’re visiting.”

“Yes.”

“This is going to be one of those eventful nights, isn’t it?”

I finished my search and pulled my attention back to the immediate future. “We’re in the right place. Let’s go.”

* * *

Two drunks slumped in a doorway watched us blearily as we passed. I walked past without a glance as Luna skirted them more carefully. Concrete stairs and a railing led down to a basement level and an open door.

Inside was an anteroom with three security men. Heavy-duty pieces of work, layers of fat covering rubbery muscle, their faces all broken noses and scowls. I came to a stop in front of them. “I’m looking for Jagadev.”

The one at the centre looked at me with shark’s eyes, flat and cold. “Name?”

“Alex Verus.”

He studied me a moment, then jerked his head towards a doorway.

The corridor beyond was old concrete, stained and ugly. “Alex-” Luna whispered.

“Cameras,” I said under my breath.

Luna glanced up. Electric eyes were watching us from both ends of the hall. The door at the end was padded and looked soundproofed to me, but I could feel a vibration through my feet. I opened the door.

Noise washed over us, deafening, the pounding beat of music. We were looking down over a club floor crowded with hundreds of people dancing and moving. The room was huge and dimly lit, red and blue and green lights flickering and clashing, painting some of the room in primary colours and leaving other parts in shadow. There was a wide semicircular balcony above, but it was darkened and anything within was invisible against the flashing lights below. Everything was noise and motion.

Luna said something. “What?” I shouted over the music.

“This is supposed to be a palace?” Luna shouted.

I looked around, scanning the floor. It was too chaotic for divination to be much use, but as I focused I could sense something else. “It’s the right place,” I shouted back.

Luna looked at the crowd. “How do we get through?”

“Follow me.”

We descended into the swirling crowd. Noise pounded around us, the harsh beat of industrial music, a singer chanting words that were lost in the throbbing of the bass. I could have pushed through but Luna couldn’t, not without getting too close. “Hey!” I shouted over the music. “Move!” People turned and I got a lot of angry looks, but enough of a path opened for Luna to follow after. With my mage’s sight I could see the silver mist of her curse swirling tightly around her, held in check by her willpower. The people around us fell back, and Luna and I became the centre of a small empty circle on the dance floor. The clubgoers were young, teens and twenties, wearing clothes that ranged from ragged T-shirts and jeans to goth outfits. Luna and I didn’t exactly fit in but we didn’t look out of place either. Arachne’s good at what she does.

Thin beams of green light danced over us as we made it to the bar. I managed to catch the eye of the barman, a bad-tempered looking guy with greasy hair and a leather jacket. “I’m looking for Jagadev,” I called. The music was a little quieter here-still enough to give you a headache, but it was more or less possible to talk.

The barman flicked a glance at me. “Never heard of him.”

I studied the barman for a moment. “Bullshit.”

The barman shrugged and turned to another customer. I looked around to see that the crowd was looking at us. Not everyone, not even most of them, but a good couple of dozen of the guys and girls had stopped dancing and turned to watch. “You know,” I said to Luna, “I’m getting the feeling we’re not all that welcome here.”

“What. .” Luna said, frowning as she looked at the crowd. “Who are they? There’s something. .”

“Adepts,” I said. “You’re feeling their magic.”

“All of them?”

“Could be.”

“Hey you,” a voice with a Liverpool accent said from the side.

I turned. The man-boy, really-was twenty or so, with brown-tinted skin and rasta plaits. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of a leather jacket and he was scowling. I looked back at him. “What’s up?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for someone,” I said. “Maybe you can help us out.”

“Think you took a wrong turn, mate,” the boy said. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

I glanced around. “No, I’m pretty sure this is the place.”

The boy’s face darkened and he took a step forward, his fists coming out to hang by his sides. Without looking I could sense that a half circle had formed around us. The barman had made himself scarce. “Fook off, mage. Go back to your fancy restaurants.”

I looked at him, then deliberately turned away to look at Luna. “There are two more of them in the crowd,” I said quietly. “Short-haired brunette in white over my shoulder and the skinny shaven-headed kid with the hoodie to your left.”

Luna’s eyes flickered, and she nodded. “What are they going to do?”

“They’ll come at our backs as soon as this guy kicks off. Watch yourself.”

“Oi!” the boy with rasta plaits said angrily. “I’m talking to you!”

Luna’s eyes went over my shoulder. “Um, Alex?”

“I know,” I said absently. “Just trying to figure out what these guys can do.”

Rasta Plaits grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. “I said-”

I moved with the spin and kicked him in the balls. Rasta Plaits’s eyes bugged out and he staggered back; I hit him again in the gut and as he doubled over I hammered a fist down onto the back of his head, sending him sprawling.

“Alex!” Luna shouted.

I jumped left and something exploded into the bar, throwing out splinters. I looked up to see the shaven-headed kid. He was wearing a dark hoodie that looked too big for him and he was holding two metal balls, one in each hand, each one about midway in size between a marble and a pool ball. I felt a surge of force magic as he flicked one at me.

It should have been a weak throw but the ball shot through the air as though it had been fired from a gun. No reflexes could have dodged it, but my precognition had told me where to go and I was already sliding aside as the ball flew over the bar and exploded a vodka bottle into a spray of liquid and broken glass. The kid jerked his wrist and another ball dropped from his sleeve into his hand, and then he twisted and threw two more, one after the other.

This time the second shot was aimed to catch me dodging the first and I had to drop and roll left. The balls whistled over my head and smashed splinters out of the bar. I came up, about to rush him, but he was already backpedalling out of range and as he did I caught a flash of danger on my precognition. “Luna, move!”

Luna obeyed instantly, jumping to one side, and the girl who’d been sneaking up behind her stumbled past as she missed. Before she could turn on Luna I was on her, pushing her back. I moved in for a grab-and pulled myself back just in time, skidding to a stop as I saw what would happen. One touch and I’d be writhing on the floor.

The girl saw me and gave me a catlike smile. She was dressed all in white, with a PVC jacket and leggings. She came at me, hands swinging with fingers curved into claws, and I jumped out of the way. I could feel the spell she was using, a malign form of life magic designed to wrack a body with pain. But just like Anne’s magic, it needed her to touch me to work. As the girl advanced on me I looked into the future, gauging her reach, then as she came in with fingers extended I put a side kick into her body.

It connected with a solid thud. My legs were longer than her arms and she went flying back, but her fingers brushed my leg as she fell. Agony shot through me, my muscles cramping and spasming. I lost my breath in a gasp and fell awkwardly, but it was over in a second. I pulled myself to my feet, shaking my head muzzily. “Alex!” Luna called, moving towards me. “Are you-?”

Rasta Plaits came up behind Luna and hit her in the back. Luna’s head jerked back as she went flying to hit the floor hard. All of a sudden I forgot about the pain in my leg. I was on the guy in two strides.

He swung and went over my head. I came up, let him miss with another punch so I could get into position, then hammered a blow into his side just below his rib cage. The floating ribs are one of the vulnerable points on the torso and I hit with enough force to break them.

It felt like hitting a wall. Pain shot up my arm and Rasta Plaits didn’t even flinch. He just grinned at me, then grabbed me and threw me into a table.

People scattered as the table and I went over with a crash. I hit the floor hard but ingrained reflexes turned the fall into a roll and I was up on my feet in an instant. A wide space on the floor had cleared and as I looked around I saw that both Rasta Plaits and the girl were coming around the overturned table towards me. The thrower was back too, manoeuvring around for a clear shot. Behind them I could see Luna pulling herself to her feet. For an instant there was a pause.

I looked slowly across the three of them. “You have no idea who you are fucking with.”

Rasta Plaits and the girl laughed and jeered. I didn’t listen to the words; I couldn’t get both myself and Luna out and that meant they had to go down. I tuned out the voices and the music, focusing only on my opponents.

Rasta Plaits attacked, his swings powerful but clumsy, and I moved away and let the attacks breeze past. As I studied him I realised he was using earth magic to harden his body, toughening skin and flesh to the consistency of rock. Hitting him would just bruise my hands.

Rasta Plaits kept punching and I kept dodging. My movements were quick, economical, and I gave only minor glances to his blows to make sure they would miss. For all his power he didn’t have much skill and he was tiring fast. The girl danced around, trying to get behind me. The skinny kid was looking for a throw but with the three of us so close he couldn’t get a shot. I considered manoeuvring Rasta Plaits so that he would eat one of the skinny kid’s projectiles and saw that it wouldn’t work-his skin was so toughened he’d just shrug it off. But it gave me another idea.

A silver mist was clinging to Rasta Plaits, the residue of Luna’s curse. I let him push me back towards the bar. The girl had disappeared from my view and I could sense her at my back. As Rasta Plaits bullied forward she came up behind me, aiming for my neck.

I caught Rasta Plaits’s rush and spun him around just as the girl struck, and as I did I felt the flare of magic as Luna’s curse took, bending chance. The girl’s hand missed me by an inch and got Rasta Plaits in the chest, and with my mage’s sight I saw the green-black ooze of the girl’s spell leap into his body.

Rasta Plaits screamed, convulsing as he crashed to the floor, and the girl fell back, staring in shock. I was already moving away, striding towards the thrower. The skinny kid hesitated, then seeing me coming straight for him he threw at my chest. I sidestepped and the metal ball flew all the way into the wall fifty feet behind. I broke into a run. He flexed his wrists and two more balls dropped into his hands; he threw once, twice, and I dodged both without breaking stride. He had just enough time to get out another set before I caught him by the wrist and pulled him off balance as my right hand slid my knife from its sheath. I dragged the kid up with his arm twisted behind his back and my knife under his chin.

The kid froze. I was standing behind him, holding him by one arm. He couldn’t see the knife but could feel the cold metal against his neck, the point digging in under his jaw. The music cut off and the club was suddenly silent except for the rustle and chatter.

Rasta Plaits was whimpering on the floor. The girl was standing dead still, eyes flicking from me to the knife to the people around. I saw her glance at Luna, who’d gotten to her feet and was a little way to her side. “Don’t,” I told her. I forced the kid forward, feeling him trembling against me. All around, the crowd was silent. “Let’s try this again. We’re looking for Jagadev.”

The girl looked from me to Luna, then pointed at a staircase beyond the crowd, leading up.

“Are we going to have any more trouble?”

The girl shook her head.

“How about you, kid?” I pushed the knife a little bit farther up into his jaw.

“No,” the kid said in a strangled voice.

I looked between the two of them, then dropped the kid and walked away, resheathing my knife as I did. A path cleared for us in the crowd, this time without my having to do anything. Behind us I felt the girl rush to where Rasta Plaits had fallen. The kid slumped over a table, rubbing his neck, and I sensed him think about aiming another shot at my back. . then decide against it. As we reached the stairs, the music started up again.

“You okay?” I asked Luna once we were out of sight.

“Bruises,” Luna said, rubbing her back with a wince. “I’ll be fine.”

I smiled slightly. “I remember when you’d almost forgotten what it was like to be hurt.”

“Yeah, that changed all right. Seriously, Alex, can’t I ever get dressed up to go out with you without this happening?”

“It doesn’t happen every time we have a night out.”

“Name one time it hasn’t.”

“Um. . your apprenticeship ceremony.”

“Somebody tried to mug us on the way back across the Heath.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Who were those guys?”

“Adepts,” I said. “Like you, I guess, but dumber.” I shook my head. “This sort of crap is why adepts end up on the bottom of the food chain. They’ve got just enough power to make them feel tough, but not enough to stop themselves getting flattened when they pick a fight with the wrong guy.”

Adepts are a lot more common than mages, ten times more common according to some estimates. Adepts and mages tend not to get on all that well, and to be honest that’s mostly the mages’ fault. Mage society is based on a hierarchy of magical power and adepts are second-class citizens at best. In most cases adepts choose to stay out of mage business completely and mages generally let them as long as they don’t break any rules. “Do you think that’s what this club is?” Luna asked. “A place for adepts?”

“Maybe,” I said. “But that’s not what’s bothering me.”

Luna looked at me, questioning. “What bothers me,” I said, “is that none of the bouncers did anything to break up the fight.”

The balcony at the top of the stairs was big, more like a mezzanine floor, and it was shaped in a wide semicircle that followed the lines of the room. It was better furnished than the lower level, with sofas and low tables, and something about the acoustics made the music a little quieter. It had the feeling of a place to sit and talk and watch the view rather than the frenzy of the dance floor below. A couple of hard-looking security men watched us as we entered, not speaking, and glancing around I could see that they would have had a perfect view of our fight below. Where were you, I wonder?

I knew we needed to go right, but Luna slowed by the railing. “Alex,” she said, nodding down at the crowd.

“Where?”

“The two by the bar,” Luna said. “I recognise them.”

I looked down and saw two men talking with the bartender. They seemed to be asking him questions, and as I watched he pointed towards the staircase we’d used. There was something familiar about them, and I felt as though I’d seen them before. They made me think of police for some reason. . and that made me remember. “Great.”

“They were asking about Anne,” Luna said. “Do you know them?”

“Never met them,” I said. “Not yet, anyway.” They were the pair of Keepers who would have come to interrogate me had Anne been killed last night. I headed along the balcony. “Come on.”

“Wait,” Luna said as she hurried after me. “Why are they still asking about Anne? Didn’t she come back to London with you?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I. . might have asked her not to show herself to anyone.”

“Why not?”

“Figured I might learn something.”

“What, by getting arrested?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time, all right?”

The balcony was less crowded than the dance floor, and the people were better dressed-fewer T-shirts and jeans, more evening wear. We skirted a table where a group of girls were chatting and drinking. To one side was a darkened booth with two shapes. I was about to pass by, then something caught my eye. “Lyle?”

Lyle started and looked up. He was dressed in a dark coat and looked like he’d been trying to be inconspicuous. “Alex. Um-”

“What are you doing here?” I said in genuine surprise. It was about the last place I’d expect to find someone like Lyle.

“I, er-” Lyle drew himself up. “I’m afraid I can’t discuss the matter.”

I looked at Lyle’s companion. She was hanging back in the shadows but something about her height and the carriage of her head jogged my memory. “Oh, I get it,” I said. “Hey, Crystal.” I looked at Lyle. “So she’s looking for help for the tournament.”

Lyle stiffened. “I’ve asked you before not to use your abilities for-”

“I don’t need divination magic to guess what you’re up to.”

Crystal looked at me pointedly. “I’m sorry, but this is a private conversation.”

“Really? What’s it about?”

Crystal didn’t react but I felt a flash of anger behind her eyes. “Alex,” Lyle said uneasily. “Keepers are looking for you. Given your position, I’m not sure you should be-”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll work out,” I said cheerfully. “See you later. Crystal.”

We walked away. “You really like annoying him, don’t you?” Luna said under her breath.

“Old history,” I murmured. “I’ll tell you about it some day.” The crowd up here was scattered, thinner. I searched through it, looking ahead for danger, and my heart jumped. “Oh shit.”

Luna sighed. “Now what?”

“Behind that pillar. Out of sight now!”

Luna didn’t hesitate, and neither did I. As we ducked out of sight a tall, slim figure appeared through the crowd, stalking towards us. Onyx.

I stood behind the pillar. A couple of people gave us curious glances but nothing more. We were fewer than twenty feet from Onyx, but I’d dealt with him enough times to get a fairly good grasp of what he could and couldn’t do. Onyx was a force mage and all his powers revolved around the direct use of momentum. He was fast as a cobra and utterly lethal in a fight, but not much good at being subtle. When it came to detecting and identifying people, he wasn’t any better than a normal man.

Onyx passed us without a glance. I waited ten seconds, then led Luna out and headed in the direction he’d come from, keeping an eye out. I knew Onyx would be back. “Is there anyone here who likes us?” Luna said.

“Apparently not.” Ahead, the balcony ended in a square doorway. “Tell you what, let’s ask the guy who invited me.”

“Why are all these people here?” Luna asked quietly.

“No idea.” Through the doorway I could see a big open room. As we walked in I had the feeling we were getting into something we didn’t understand.

chapter 7

The room at the end of the balcony was tall with dark walls and pillars, and it was set into the building in such a way that despite its size it didn’t extend out over the dance floor. To the left was a view down into the club, but a layer of tinted glass had been installed that I knew would block line of sight from below. Guards were standing on either side of the entrance and more were spaced around the room, each looking about as friendly as the ones we’d seen on the way in. A square of four black leather sofas sat to one side of the room, giving a direct view over the crowd, and on the other side was a corridor leading deeper into the building, halfhidden behind a bead curtain. Girls and men in flashy clothes were scattered around, laughing and chattering.

At the centre, reclining on one of the sofas, was Jagadev. The rakshasa was big and powerfully built, with thick arms and legs. He had the head and the striped orange-black fur of a tiger but was humanoid enough to wear clothes-a black suit with a red silk shirt and tie. He held a wineglass in one clawed paw. He didn’t move, yet somehow he dominated the room, as though everybody there were oriented towards him and waiting to take their cue.

I walked straight towards Jagadev. Faces turned to watch as we approached, and I had the sudden strange feeling that I was at a court, the inhabitants watching us draw closer to the king on his throne. An Asian guy in sunglasses stepped in front of us, blocking our way.

I stopped and met his gaze. “Alex Verus.”

The man glanced back towards Jagadev. Jagadev made no movement that I could see, but the man stepped away. I walked up and stood before him. The girls to either side eyed me appraisingly. The room was silent but for the pounding beat of the music below.

Jagadev made a small gesture with his free paw towards the sofa behind me.

“Hi,” I said. “Sorry, was that an invitation to sit down? I’m not that familiar with the code.”

“Sit,” Jagadev said. His voice was a rumble, midway between a purr and a growl.

“Thanks.” I sat and glanced around. “Interesting place you’ve got here.” Without turning I could sense Luna’s presence behind me; she’d taken up a position a safe distance from the other people in the room, not too far from the exit. Although I kept myself relaxed, I was very aware of how many people were surrounding us. There were thirteen other people in the room apart from us and Jagadev, of whom four or five were between us and the exit. If things went wrong this could get ugly fast.

Some things are much easier to predict than others. Machines and other inanimate objects are simple. When you flick a light switch, the light comes on. You can flick the switch a hundred times, and the light will go on the same way every time. Sure, there’s a tiny chance something will go wrong-the bulb might blow out, there could be a power cut-but even those can be predicted fairly reliably if you know what you’re doing.

Forecasting what a living creature will do is much harder. Free will is one of the points at which divination breaks down; if someone genuinely hasn’t made a choice then no divination magic can see beyond it. You can see the branching futures, see the consequences of each, but the final decision is always theirs.

But while everyone has free will, one of the odd things you learn as a diviner is that not everyone actually uses it. A surprising number of people don’t make choices, not most of the time anyway-they just react on predefined patterns until something happens to shake them out of it. A thoughtful person, though, someone who makes decisions based on what they hear and think and see-to a diviner’s eyes they look totally different. By looking at the shape of someone’s futures, I can actually make a pretty good guess at what kind of person they are. So as I spoke to Jagadev, only a part of my mind was in the present. Most of my attention was on what he was going to do.

The shape of Jagadev’s actions was. . odd. Normally I see a swirl of futures, changing and adapting to my own actions. Jagadev’s futures weren’t like that at all-they were impassive, still. In all the futures of all my words and actions, Jagadev sat like a statue, controlled and steady. I could sense a powerful intelligence behind that mask, but what and how much he would reveal I didn’t know.

It all took only an instant, and as Jagadev spoke I snapped back to the present. “I have always been here.”

“You’ve gone for a different setup than mages usually do.”

Jagadev’s eyes drifted past me, looking over my shoulder. “And yet,” he murmured, “mages come.”

I looked back, following Jagadev’s gaze across the balcony towards the stairs up from the floor below. The two Keepers I’d seen earlier were visible across the gap, their outlines dim through the glass. They looked around, then moved towards where Lyle and Crystal had been sitting. “So,” I said, turning back to Jagadev, “not that I’m not grateful for the invitation, but why did you ask me here?”

“Why did you assist my ward?”

“You mean Anne?” I shrugged. “I’m a diviner.”

“That is the how,” Jagadev said. “I wish to know why.”

Behind me, across the balcony, I could feel the two mages talking to Lyle and Crystal. Without turning to look, I sensed Lyle point them in our direction. The men started towards us. “Would you prefer I hadn’t?”

“Answer the question.”

“Let’s just say I don’t like seeing apprentices getting killed.” I tilted my head. “Not intending to interfere in your business, of course.”

Jagadev held my gaze for a few moments. “You have my gratitude,” he said at last.

He didn’t sound grateful. But then I was getting the definite impression that Jagadev didn’t show much of anything. “Quite a well-planned attack,” I said. “Somebody wanted to make sure she didn’t get back.”

“Those responsible will be dealt with,” Jagadev said. His voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent that gave me a chill.

“So I’m curious,” I said. “What exactly is your relationship with Anne and Variam? You called Anne your ward?”

“That is not your concern.”

“Fair enough.” The two mages were heading towards us. “But seeing as I was able to provide some help, is there any chance you could tell me something about a related matter?”

Jagadev gave a single nod. “This wasn’t the first attack on an apprentice,” I said. “Others have been going missing. Know anything about it?”

From behind came the sound of voices. The other people in the room turned to look; I didn’t. Instead I looked into the futures in which I did, seeing behind me without having to turn my head. The Council Keepers were right outside and the Asian guy in sunglasses was in the doorway blocking their way. One of the mages said something. I couldn’t make out Sunglasses’s reply, but I got the gist: Lord Jagadev is busy. The mage’s answer was short and threatening, and it wasn’t a request. Sunglasses folded his arms.

I felt the snap of a spell: air magic. Sunglasses hit the wall to my right with a whump, crumpling to the floor. I turned my head to look over the back of the sofa as the mages walked in.

There was a rustle of movement from around the room. I recognised the sound of metal against leather and saw the glint of a gun from under one man’s coat. Everyone was focused on the two men, but if they were worried about being outnumbered and surrounded they didn’t show it. “Mage Verus,” the one on the left said. He was tall and lean, with a hard face, and he was the one who’d cast the spell. “We’d like to have a word.”

“You were told to wait outside,” Jagadev said softly.

“We have business with Verus,” the tall mage said. “It’s not your concern.”

“You would force your way into my domain?” Jagadev said. He didn’t raise his voice, but there was something dangerous there and I could feel everyone in the room tense.

“It’s not your domain, rakshasa,” the mage said. “You stay here because we let you. Now tell your servants to stand down or come morning this place will be a slag heap.”

The music from below had stopped and the room was quiet. A dozen pairs of eyes were locked on the mages and I could sense weapons readied. The two mages didn’t seem to notice but I could feel the tension of spells poised to trigger. Jagadev was sitting absolutely still and showed no expression, but somehow I was sure that he was furiously angry. The seconds stretched out, ticking away.

Then Jagadev made a small gesture and the men around us drew back, fingers coming off triggers and muscles relaxing. I let out a soft breath, and I wasn’t the only one. I gave Luna a quick glance; she’d withdrawn to a safe corner and I gave her a nod to stay there.

“Mage Verus,” the Keeper said.

“That’s me,” I said.

“Come with us, please.”

“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” I said. “Could I come sort this out with you later?”

“No.”

“Could I at least know what the problem is?”

“All right, Verus, if that’s the way you want to play it,” the Keeper said. “An apprentice named Anne Walker has been reported attacked and missing and you’re on record as the last one to have seen her. Under Council authority, you’re required to answer our questions as to why.”

As the mage spoke I felt a stir of movement from across the room. Behind where Jagadev was sitting was a doorway leading into the club, covered by a bead curtain. “So Anne Walker’s been reported missing?” I asked, raising my voice.

“That’s what I said.”

I pointed past Jagadev to the doorway. “Then who exactly is that?”

The timing was perfect. Anne had been listening from the shadows, and as every eye in the room turned towards her she took her cue and stepped out from behind the curtain. She hesitated a second under the weight of the stares, then walked forward to stand behind Jagadev, heels clicking on the floor.

Anne looked. . different. In place of the clothes I’d seen her in before she was wearing an outfit of tight black leather, reflections from the lights of the club gleaming from it as she moved. It left her arms bare and showed off the tops of her breasts, and as she walked her hair brushed the skin of her shoulders. She still looked as if she wanted to avoid attention but it really wasn’t working and if anything it actually made people stare more. The only one who didn’t turn to look was Jagadev. He sat unmoving, his eyes fixed on the two mages.

“Anne Walker?” the first mage said at last. Anne nodded.

“I think you’ve got some explaining to do,” the mage said. “This way, please.”

Anne glanced at Jagadev, waiting for his nod, before going to them. The two mages turned and walked out, flanking her as the rest of the room watched them go.

* * *

The Keepers were questioning Anne. I could just see them across the room on the far side of the balcony, through the tinted glass. In Jagadev’s room-what I’d taken to thinking of as his court-the atmosphere had eased. The weapons had been put away, though none of the men carrying them had left.

“You have done me a favour, so I will return it,” Jagadev said, and I turned back to him. He had his furred hands clasped over his chest and I checked idly to see if they were backwards. They weren’t. I guess not all rumours are true. “I do not know who is responsible for the disappearances amongst your kind but I know where they will be. You will find them at the White Stone tournament at Fountain Reach.”

I don’t think I showed anything on my face but it was a near thing. “How do you know they’ll be there?”

“That is my concern,” Jagadev said. “Anne and Variam will be attending the tournament. I will have them assist you.”

“Uh. . thanks.”

Jagadev nodded. “You may go.”

I hesitated an instant, thinking of asking Jagadev more questions, but as I looked into the future I saw he wouldn’t answer them. I rose, gave Jagadev a nod, and withdrew. Luna fell in by my side. The guy who’d been thrown into the wall had picked himself back up and watched stone-faced as we left. As we passed through the door I heard chatter start up from behind us.

I did a quick scan of the area as we emerged back onto the balcony and saw that we didn’t have anyone hunting us down right at the moment. “Well,” I said. “I guess that could have gone worse.”

Luna was craning her neck to try to look at the other end of the balcony. “Do you think Anne’s okay?”

“She’s not a suspect,” I said. I leant against the railing and frowned. “That’s the third time in two days I’ve been pointed towards Fountain Reach.”

“Are you going to go?”

I thought for a second and nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on but I know something is.” I paused. “Of course, it’d help if I had a reason for being there.”

“You do,” Luna said, and then caught herself. “Oh, right. You can’t tell anyone you’re there to watch the apprentices, can you?”

“Nope. Of course, if my apprentice had a reason for attending. .”

Luna looked back at me for a second. “You want me to enter the tournament, don’t you?”

“It would make things simpler.”

“After how well I did last time?”

“Good practice.”

Luna sighed. “Oh, fine. I suppose it won’t kill me.”

“That’s the spirit. So what did you think of our friend Jagadev?”

“He was. .” Luna frowned. “Different. From what I was expecting, I mean. I guess I thought he’d be like Arachne.”

“Do you think he was being honest with us?”

Luna thought for a second. “I’m not sure.”

“Neither am I. He was very hard to read.”

“He said Anne was his ward,” Luna said. “Does that mean he’s like Anne and Variam’s master?”

“Magical creatures do sort of adopt apprentices sometimes.”

“Then he’s supposed to look after them, right?” Luna said. “So why’s he sending them to the tournament if he thinks the thing that’s making apprentices vanish is there? Shouldn’t he be keeping them away?”

I nodded. “And there’s something else. Back there Jagadev was acting as though the only reason he was seeing me was because I’d helped Anne. But he sent me that invitation before I helped Anne.”

“So why did he invite you?”

“Good question.” I glanced into the future. “Looks like Variam’s here too.”

“Where?”

“Far corner over your right shoulder. Don’t turn and look.”

Luna had already taken a glance. “Why’s he scowling at us?”

“I’ve got the feeling Variam doesn’t like us very much,” I said. Like Anne Variam had dressed up, but his outfit was much less eye-catching: a dark shirt and pants, a black denim jacket, and a black turban instead of the khaki one. By looking into the future in which I met his gaze I could watch him without seeming to watch him, and just as Luna had said he was staring at us with a scowl.

“What’s his problem?” Luna said.

“Maybe he’s pissed off that I didn’t let Anne get killed.”

Luna gave me a look. “I’m kidding,” I said. “Probably.” I glanced along the balcony. “Those mages are about to finish with Anne. Why don’t you go talk to her?”

“Okay,” Luna said, and started to turn, then stopped with a suspicious look. “Wait, are you just trying to get me out of the way?”

“Yes.”

Luna rolled her eyes and left. I watched her go, seeing her move unconsciously to keep a safe distance from the people in her path. Luna’s control over her curse is much better now and to my sight it looks like a tight, dense layer of silver mist over her skin, but through force of habit she still won’t get any closer to another person than she has to.

Someone cleared his throat from behind me. “Hi, Lyle,” I said without turning around.

“Ah,” Lyle said. “So, er. .”

“No, I haven’t been arrested.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”

I thought about saying Are you? but held myself back. I turned to see Lyle looking awkward. He was wearing his usual suit and really didn’t fit into a place like this. I wondered why he’d agreed to meet Crystal here. “You want to know the story, don’t you?”

“Well-”

I sighed. “Oh, fine. That apprentice Anne was reported missing. I was the last to have seen her so those two came looking for me. Luckily Anne wasn’t missing after all.”

“Ah. What happened?”

“If you want to know the details, you’ll have to ask her.” Which was technically true: Lyle would have to ask her because I wasn’t going to tell him.

“I see. Well, it’s good everything turned out well.”

“Just a sec,” I said. “While you’re here there’s something I wanted to ask. What’s the deal with Anne and Variam?”

“How do you mean?”

“They’re a bit too good to be in the apprentice program. Why haven’t they taken their journeyman tests?”

“Oh, I see.” Lyle relaxed a little. “Well, mostly because they don’t have a sponsor. Do you know their background?”

I shook my head and Lyle settled down on the railing next to me, comfortable now. Gossip is Lyle’s element. “Well, both of them are in the apprentice program, but they didn’t start that way. Originally they were apprentices to a Dark mage named Sagash.”

She was taught by a Dark mage. Her and that other boy, Variam. . They started working for a monster! I remembered Natasha’s words from the gym yesterday. Maybe she had been telling the truth, even if it hadn’t been for the right reasons.

“Anyway, there was trouble of some kind,” Lyle continued. “I don’t know the details but it ended with the two of them leaving Sagash’s service on bad terms. After it was clear that they weren’t going back, we got in touch with them via a Light mage named Ebber. He’d had some previous contact with them while they were staying at Sagash’s residence.”

“And?”

“And they turned him down flat. According to Ebber they were quite hostile. He would have been more than willing to put them in touch with a master, but they were totally uncooperative.”

“Huh,” I said. “So instead they ended up with Jagadev.”

Lyle shrugged. “Apparently no one else would have them.” He glanced around. “On the subject, Alex. . what exactly are you doing here?”

“Got an invitation.”

Lyle frowned. “I’d avoid associating yourself too closely with Jagadev if I were you. He may have some influence amongst the Council, but he’s still a nonhuman.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. So how did your chat with Crystal go?”

“I, er. .” Lyle looked flustered. “I ought to be going.”

I watched Lyle hurry off. I hadn’t expected that last comment to be the one to chase him away. Maybe I’d hit a nerve.

Down below the night was in full swing, hundreds of people dancing to the thumping beat of the music. Looking down over the crowd and concentrating, I could sense flickers of magic. None were powerful but there were a lot of them. Was that what Jagadev had created here-a sort of haven for adepts? It made sense. Mages wouldn’t let a creature like Jagadev move into their own territory, but adepts aren’t something they concern themselves with.

Up here on the balcony the crowd was thinner. I didn’t recognise most of the guests, but there were a few that I did, and they were generally people I didn’t want to talk to. Crystal and Lyle were leaving but Onyx wasn’t, and he was heading back towards me. I stepped out of his line of sight again, waited until he was past, then walked away in the opposite direction.

As I did, I saw Anne. She was leaning on the balcony railing and looking out over the crowd, and everybody else was giving her a wide berth. I couldn’t see Luna. I considered it for maybe half a second before coming to lean on the railing next to Anne. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, “but I think your normal clothes suit you better.”

Anne gave me a glance and a half smile. She didn’t seem surprised, as if she’d known I was there. “Lord Jagadev likes me to wear it for gatherings.”

“And you do what Lord Jagadev tells you.” I put the tiniest stress on the title.

Anne looked out over the crowd. “It’s. . difficult.” She was silent for a moment. “I don’t like everything he asks us to do. But there are worse things than having to dress up.”

“Trust me, I understand that part.” I paused. “Thanks for showing up when you did back there.”

“It’s no problem.” Anne turned back to me. “Did you find out anything?”

I shook my head. “Looks like I’ll be around to give you updates though.”

Anne gave me an enquiring look.

“So what’s Jagadev’s end of the deal?” I said. “He uses his connections to keep the two of you in the apprentice program?”

Anne looked away again. “That’s part of it,” she said at last.

“And the other part?”

Anne hesitated, seemed about to speak.

“Anne,” a voice said from behind us.

I turned to see Variam. “He wants you,” Variam said, ignoring me.

Anne sighed. “All right.” She looked at me. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll see you soon?”

I nodded. “Till then.”

Anne left. Variam gave me a flat unfriendly look which I returned blandly, then he escorted her away, glancing over his shoulder to keep tabs on me.

I waited until they were out of sight, then followed. I was curious about why “Lord” Jagadev suddenly wanted to talk to Anne. Anne and Variam entered Jagadev’s court a little way ahead of me. I wouldn’t be able to follow them in without being noticed. . but then, I didn’t need to.

The technique is the same one I use for watching people, slightly modified. First you need to be close enough that you can reach them in only a few seconds. Then you look into the immediate future in which you approach. As I concentrated, in every future I was stopped before getting all the way up to where Anne and Jagadev were talking, sometimes at the door and sometimes a little farther in. But in some of those futures I’d catch a snatch of conversation, and by putting those futures together I could get the gist of what they were saying. It’s a pretty crude method of eavesdropping-an air mage could just carry the words right to his ears-but it does have the advantage of being almost completely undetectable.

“. . and what has been happening there?” Jagadev was saying.

“Just duelling classes,” Anne said.

“Which mages were present?”

“Today? I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t see, but. . Lyle, I think, and an air mage I don’t know. And there was-”

Some people passed through the door, breaking my link and disrupting the futures in which I was watching them. I turned away and waited for them to pass. When they were gone, Anne was speaking again. “. . nothing serious, really.”

“I did not ask if it was serious.”

“Well. . there’s Natasha and her friend Yasmin. But it’s just talk.”

“What kind of talk?”

Anne sounded uncomfortable. “Little stuff. Talking about us to the mages, that kind of thing. It’s nothing important. .”

“What else do your classes discuss?”

I frowned. Jagadev wanted to know about Anne’s classes? I kept listening and Jagadev kept asking Anne questions-the other apprentices, the teachers, everything. I pulled my vision back and looked at the rest of the room. This time, instead of looking to see how the people of Jagadev’s court acted towards him, I looked at how they acted towards Anne.

And to my surprise I got the very definite impression they were scared of her. It was subtle; they didn’t look at her directly or come too close. But the more I watched, the more sure I became that the people in that room were almost as afraid of Anne as they were of Jagadev. Maybe that outfit wasn’t for decoration, but to make sure she was noticed.

All the same, it was odd. I’d always heard that life mages were supposed to be dangerous, but it was hard to think of Anne as a threat. She seemed too-

“Alex? Alex!”

I jerked back to the present to realise that Luna was talking to me. She’d come up next to me while I was distracted, and she looked tense. “We’ve got trouble. Onyx just met someone and he’s coming this way.”

I looked into the future to see how far Onyx was. . and saw the person he was with. “Oh shit. Luna, get out of here.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere these guys don’t see you! Move!”

Luna moved. I scanned quickly through the futures, looking for a way to avoid the men heading towards me, and realised it wouldn’t work. Giving Onyx the slip was one thing but the man with him had already spotted me. If I ran he wouldn’t pursue. . but it would let him know I was afraid of him. I hesitated for an instant, then walked forward to meet them just as they turned the corner to come face to face with me.

Onyx was on the left and his face darkened as he saw me, but it was the man half a step ahead of him that I was watching. He was average height with jet-black hair and the good looks and confidence of a man in his prime. Physically he looked thirty, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t. “Ah, Verus,” Morden said. “I was hoping we’d have the chance to chat.”

Onyx didn’t move but I could sense that he was coiled to strike and I tensed, watching the futures. If he attacked this close I would have to move very fast. Morden glanced sideways. “Onyx, I’m afraid I’ll be late to our meeting with Jagadev. Why don’t you go ahead and give him my apologies?”

Onyx looked at Morden with narrowed eyes. “Today, please,” Morden said. Onyx gave me a last glare and obeyed. I moved slightly to keep him in sight as he stalked off.

“Well, then,” Morden said. “Why don’t we discuss how we can help each other?”

Everyone else who’d been standing nearby had scattered, which reinforced just how dangerous Morden was, not that I needed the reminder. The first time I met Morden he scared off three veteran Dark mages just by looking at them. The second time he subdued those same three Dark mages without breaking a sweat. He’s very powerful and very ambitious, and quite frankly he scares the hell out of me.

But if I’ve learnt one thing about dealing with Dark mages it’s that you don’t show fear. “Sounds great,” I said. “You can help by keeping yourself and your psychopathic Chosen as far away from me as you can.”

Morden sighed. “Yes, I rather expected we’d have to work through this.” He gestured along the balcony. “Shall we?”

“Shall we what?”

“Walk. Unless you’d prefer to include your apprentice in the conversation?”

I didn’t let myself glance towards where Luna was hidden. I began walking in the direction Morden had pointed. The Dark mage fell in beside me. “So let’s get this out of the way,” Morden said.

“You kidnapped me, lied to me, and tried to kill me.”

“I don’t remember you describing it as a kidnapping. In fact as I recall, you thanked me.”

“That was before you tried to press-gang me into a plan that was supposed to get me killed.”

“The next point,” Morden continued as if he hadn’t heard. “Perhaps you could explain how I lied to you?”

“You said you wanted me as intelligence officer,” I said. “You didn’t mention the part where Onyx was planning to kill me as soon as we got inside.”

“And?”

“What do you mean, ‘and’?”

“Which part did you think I was lying about?”

“Oh, I don’t know. How about the part where we were meant to survive?”

“I simply made you a job offer.”

“And you forgot to mention that you’d told Onyx to take my head off?” I said. “What, did it slip your mind?”

“Actually, I didn’t give Onyx specific instructions as to what to do with any of you,” Morden said. “That was left to his discretion.”

I gave Morden a look. “I’m disappointed, Verus,” Morden said. “Don’t you recall our last conversation?”

“Enlighten me.”

“Dealing with Onyx was your responsibility,” Morden said. “If you were unable to manage such a situation, you would have proved yourself unsuited for the role.”

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “You knew Onyx was going to try to kill me and you still seriously believed I’d be willing to work for you afterwards?”

“Hopefully.”

I shook my head. “You Dark mages have such a screwed-up way of looking at the world, you know that? I was stupid enough to work for you once. I’m never doing it again.”

“Never is a long time.” Morden didn’t seem troubled. “You may have reason to approach me sooner than you think.”

“Whatever,” I said. We were approaching the end of the balcony. “Are we done here?”

“Are you really doing so well investigating these disappearances alone that you can afford to pass up help?”

I stopped and turned to face Morden. “And what do you know about that?”

“Let me guess,” Morden said. “You received an anonymous piece of information pointing you towards Fountain Reach. Am I correct?”

“And you’re expecting me to believe that was why Onyx was there? Another tip-off?”

“Why did you think he was there?”

“Maybe because the two of you are the ones causing the disappearances.”

“And what would I gain from that?”

“Fewer Light mages, more Dark ones?”

Morden sighed. “Light mages always think it’s all about them. Tell me, Verus, what made you so certain it was only Light apprentices who were disappearing?”

I started to answer and then stopped.

“Onyx was in Fountain Reach for precisely the reason you were,” Morden said. “The difference is that unlike you, we know the informant’s identity.”

“Who?”

“I believe you just implied you considered me a suspect,” Morden said dryly. “Now you want information?”

I was silent.

“Onyx will be at the White Stone,” Morden said. “Again, for much the same reasons as you. I believe the two of you could profit from cooperation but I won’t force you.”

I turned and started walking back towards Jagadev’s room. “Sure you’re not doing all this just to get back at me for stopping you from getting the fateweaver?”

“If that were my objective I would have killed you already,” Morden said. “I would have thought you would have firsthand knowledge of why the fateweaver is of little value to me.”

“Fine. So if you expect me and Onyx to help each other, are you at least going to tell him not to try and kill me again?”

“Honestly, Verus,” Morden said. “Haven’t you been listening at all? Your issues with Onyx are your own problem. I certainly won’t do anything to protect you from the consequences of your own actions. Not without something in return.”

We’d nearly returned to the point at which we’d started. “Well, interesting as this has been, I have business to attend to,” Morden said. “I hope you and Onyx can work out your differences.”

“Don’t take this personally,” I said, “but I hope I don’t see you again.”

“Are you going to stop involving yourself in matters of importance?” Morden asked. He paused a second, waiting for a reply, then smiled slightly. “I thought not. Good night.”

Morden left without a backward glance. I stepped out of sight and stood thinking.

Luna peeked her head out from a doorway. “Alex?”

“It’s safe,” I said, and shook myself. “I think we’ve outstayed our welcome.”

Luna followed without argument. Once she would have complained, but she’s learnt a lot since then. “What did he want to talk about?”

“I’ll tell you on the way home,” I said. “Let’s get out of here. Morden won’t take a shot at us if he sees us again, but Onyx will.”