Alex Verus Novels, Books 1-4 (9780698175952) (128 page)

“Like who?”

“That guy in Edinburgh. And there was that Traysia woman.”

“Okay, that's two out of how many?” Shireen asked. “Two hundred? More? Now think about it. Did Richard ever say he wanted more than one Chosen? Did he
say
there was room for more than one of us? Or did we just assume that was what he must have meant?”

Rachel frowned. “What are you saying?”

“Ever since we've been here, what's the one thing Richard's kept telling us Dark mages are supposed to have?” Shireen said. “Strength. The strong rule, the weak serve. Can you really see anyone who believes that
sharing
?”

“We've been working together,” Rachel protested. “I know there's been trouble, but we're supposed to be on the same side.”

“Uh-huh,” Shireen said. “And that's why Tobruk went psycho? More psycho than usual, anyway. Tell me something. Did Richard say anything before Tobruk went off the deep end? Like about his protection getting taken away?”

Rachel hesitated.

“This is how it was always going to end up, Rach,” Shireen said. “Richard doesn't want four Chosen. He wants
one
Chosen. But he's not going to pick for us. He wants us to fight it out until just one of us is left, because that's the Dark way. The meanest and strongest and smartest one gets to be top of the heap. And you know what? We've been helping him do it.” Shireen shook her head. “Not anymore. You want me to stay? I've got a better idea. We leave.”

Rachel looked confused. “Leave?”

“Leave. Both of us, tonight.” Shireen tried to take Rachel's hands but Rachel pulled back. “Out of this mansion. No more missions, no more deaths, no more prisoners. We don't need Richard or Tobruk or any of them. It'll be just you and me again.”

“And we leave all this to Tobruk?” Rachel demanded. “Just let him be Chosen?”

“Who
cares
who's Chosen? It's just a name! We don't need anything Richard can give us.”

“And where would we go?”

“Anywhere! Some other mage, some other place, I don't care. Anywhere but here.”

Rachel stared at Shireen for a second. “You really don't get it, do you?”

Shireen frowned. “What?”

“How did you find Alex?” Rachel asked. “How's Tobruk going to find Alex?”

“You know how,” Shireen said. “Tracers.”

“And?”

“And we asked the mages he'd spoken to—”

“And they told you where he'd gone.”

“Yeah . . .”

“So they helped you and not him,” Rachel said. “If we run away, that's going to be
us
! The only thing keeping every other Dark mage from selling us out is Richard. As long as we're with him, we're safe. But as soon as we leave, that's it! You think anyone cares about a Dark runaway? You think we haven't made enough enemies? Everyone who hates us, everyone who wants us, they're all going to be chasing us down!”

“So what's your plan?” Shireen demanded. “Stay here and hope for the best?”

“Yes! It's just a week! Why can't you wait that long?”

“Because it'll mean that Catherine dies.”

“So what?”

Shireen drew back a little, startled. Rachel was glaring at her. “Have you talked to them?” Shireen asked.

“Who?”

“Catherine,” Shireen said. “Alex. Everyone who's passed through those cells. Have you ever looked at them and talked to them?”

“Why does that matter?”

“You haven't, have you?”

“So?” Rachel snapped. “What, you think talking to them means you've learnt something special?”

“YES!” Shireen shouted. “When you actually
meet
someone who's going to die because of what you've done, when you look into their eyes and listen to their voice, it makes you
think
about what you're doing! And that's why you haven't done it! Deep down you
know
what you're doing is fucked up, but as long as you don't talk to her you can pretend it's not real. But it is, and if you keep doing this you'll be murdering her the same way Tobruk murdered her boyfriend.”

Rachel flinched but didn't look away. “Why are you doing this?” She sounded hurt, betrayed. “I thought I could trust you.”

“You
can
trust me,” Shireen said. “But as long as we're in this mansion we're always going to belong to Richard.” She glanced around. “Where is he?”

“He's gone after Lesandra,” Rachel said unwillingly. “But he'll be . . .”

“Whatever,” Shireen said. “I'm not sticking around to see who wins.” She started walking towards the far end of the chapel.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

“What I should have done a long time ago. I'm getting out and I'm breaking Catherine out too.”

Rachel's eyes went wide. “Are you crazy?” She ran around, blocking Shireen. “You can't!”

“Can you think of a better time?” Shireen demanded. “Richard's busy with Lesandra. We're not going to get a better chance than this. We'll be out of the country by the time he even figures out she's gone.”

“He'll come after us!”

“When's he ever done anything like that himself?” Shireen asked. “Even when Alex tried to break Catherine out he didn't lift a finger. He just let Tobruk handle it all for him.”

Rachel stared at Shireen for a long moment, then shook her head. “Wow. You really don't understand him at all, do you?”

“What?”

“Richard's let us do whatever we like because we've never threatened anything he really cares about,” Rachel said. “He doesn't care if we mess up the mansion or fight each other. But he cares about this. I don't know where he's going or what he's going to do once he gets there, but it's really,
really
important to him. If he loses that girl you think he's going to say, ‘Oh well, too bad, let's go home'? He's going to come after her with everything he's got.”

“So we go to someone who'll help.”

“No one's going to help! They didn't help Alex and they won't help us!”

“Maybe they won't,” Shireen said quietly. “But at least we'll be doing something decent for once.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Rach, think about it,” Shireen said. “Remember how we always talked about how we'd be the heroes? How we'd change the world? Look at what you're doing right now. We're not the heroes. We're the
bad guys
.”

“No, we're not.”

“You're keeping a girl in prison so Tobruk can use her for his fucked-up games until Richard gets around to sacrificing her for a ritual,” Shireen said. “Wake up, Rach! What does that sound like to you?”

“Everyone always tells us what we're supposed to do,” Rachel snapped. “Maybe we're allowed to be selfish for once.”

“We've never
not
been selfish! When have we
ever
used our magic for anyone else?”

“Well, why should we? What's wrong with using it for what we want?”

“We said we were going to help girls with magic, remember?”

“Yes!” Rachel shouted. “Girls like
us
! The two of
us
! Not someone else!”

Shireen drew back in shock, staring at Rachel. “Everyone tries to use us,” Rachel said. “We always have to be afraid of people like Tobruk and I'm sick of it.
I
want to be the one everyone else is afraid of. I want to be Richard's Chosen and own this mansion and have people be scared of
me
.”

“Rach, listen to yourself,” Shireen said in disbelief. “This isn't you. Richard's made you like this. If you just—”

“How would
you
know what's really me?” Rachel snapped. “You decide stuff and you expect me to do it too. You never ask me what
I
want.”

Shireen looked taken aback. “I thought—”

“You always talk the most, you act like you're in charge, you get all the attention.” Rachel looked like she couldn't stop if she wanted to; all the years of frustration were pouring out. “Your magic's stronger, you get everything first, it's you, you, you, but the one thing I could count on was that you were always on my side. Now for once I want something and you don't care! It's still all about you. You change your mind and you just expect me to follow you. Well, I'm not doing it! Not this time! I want this and for once this is going to be about what
I
want!”

Shireen was staring at Rachel. “You always felt like that?” she said. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because you never
asked
!” Rachel shouted. “You just assumed I was going to do whatever you decided! I followed you to sign up with Richard but I'm not following you now.”

“How many times are you going to throw that at me?” Shireen shouted. “I know I was the one who talked you into coming here. I
know
it was a mistake. Now's our chance to fix it.”

Rachel opened her mouth to give another angry reply, then something seemed to break. All of a sudden she just looked tired and miserable. “It's too late.” Rachel sounded desperately unhappy, and just for an instant I wondered if this had been how she'd always felt. “Everything we've done . . . Who's going to want an
ex
–Dark apprentice? We have to stick it through. It's the only way we're going to be safe.”

“We're
never
going to be safe, Rach,” Shireen said gently. Her anger was gone too; she only looked sad. “And that's our fault. I know you want me to stay and help you with Tobruk. But after Tobruk there'd be someone else and someone else. As long as we live as Dark mages there'll always be another Tobruk. The only way to get away from them is to leave.”

Rachel hesitated, and for the first time I had the feeling she was really wavering. Shireen put her hands on Rachel's shoulders, and this time Rachel didn't push her away. “Listen to me,” Shireen said, looking straight into Rachel's eyes. “We might have made bad choices, but we don't have to keep making them. We
can
turn back, if we admit we were wrong and start fixing our mistakes. I can't undo what we've done but I can help Catherine right now. And that's what I'm going to do.” Shireen moved Rachel to the side and started walking towards the archway leading to the cells.

Rachel stared after her for a second, then fright leapt into her eyes. “No! Don't!”

“It's the only way, Rach.”

“You can't do this!” Rachel's voice rose, broke. “He'll kill me!
You're supposed to be on my side!
”

Shireen didn't stop or turn; she was passing the altar. “Stop!” Rachel shouted. Her hand began to lift, blue-green light flickering around it. Shireen didn't react. “Stop!” Shireen kept walking.
“Stop!”
And a thin blue-green ray flashed from Rachel's hand, striking Shireen's lower back and passing through into the archway beyond.

Shireen stumbled and stopped. She turned and looked at Rachel in complete surprise, then her legs gave out from underneath her and she crumpled to the stone.

Rachel stood frozen, her hand still raised. “I didn't—” she began. “I didn't mean to—”

Shireen stared at Rachel for a long moment, then a kind of realisation crept into her eyes and she leant her head back against the stone. “Oh,” she said quietly.

“Oh God, you're bleeding.” Rachel looked around wildly. “Just stay there. I'll get you something, I'll—”

“Don't worry about it,” Shireen said softly. She took a breath. “I guess . . . you get what you want after all.” Her eyes drifted closed.

“Shireen?” Rachel rushed to her side, then fell to her knees. “Wake up! Shireen!
Shireen!
”

chapter
11

W
hen Richard walked in through the archway, Rachel was kneeling next to Shireen. Blood was pooled on the floor and smeared over Rachel's arms and clothes; she'd taken off her top and wrapped it around Shireen's middle. Rachel looked up at Richard with haunted eyes and he stopped and took in the scene. “Well,” he said at last. “It seems I've missed a few things.”

“Please . . .” Rachel's voice was shaky. “I can't stop the bleeding. She won't . . .”

“Yes, yes. Let me have a look at her.” Richard walked forward and crouched by Shireen's body. His suit was crumpled and covered in dust but his eyes were bright and his movements full of energy. He looked like he'd just come through a desperate battle and won. “Hmm, nasty wound. Disintegration?”

Rachel didn't answer. “Well, it shouldn't be much trouble,” Richard said, standing and dusting himself off. “There's internal bleeding, but that's easy enough to stop.”

Rachel stared at him. “You're going to help her? But she—” She stopped.

“Tried to break into the cells. I know.”

“She won't— I didn't—”

Richard raised a hand. “Please don't apologise, Rachel. Your show of loyalty is admirable. I appreciate how difficult this must have been for you.”

Rachel looked down at the floor. “So given the course of events, I think we can safely assume that Shireen has resigned her position,” Richard said. “Normally I would leave her to her fate, but I think in this case the decision should be yours. If you'd prefer her to be treated I will of course respect your wishes.” He paused. “Assuming that's what you want.”

Rachel's head came up. “What?”

“Your aim was quite precise,” Richard said in a conversational tone. “Exactly enough damage to incapacitate Shireen, but not enough to kill her. Some would call it accident. Personally, I believe you have more skill than that.” Richard reached into his pocket. “I could heal her, of course. But perhaps you'd prefer the use of this.” He opened his hand and I caught my breath. On Richard's palm was a black crystal, a twin to the one Tobruk had shown Rachel.

Rachel stared at the crystal, a sort of dawning horror creeping across her face, then she shook her head violently. “No.”

“Are you sure?” Richard asked. “On some level, wasn't this what you were considering? Why else would you have used the spell you did?”

“No.” Rachel kept shaking her head. “I can't.”

Richard watched her for a moment, tilting his head, then closed his hand back over the crystal, hiding it from view. “As you wish,” he said, beginning to walk away. “I've never attempted to force you into anything, Rachel. Remember that. Threats and bullying may suffice for lesser men but a true mage must be willing and aware. I can offer suggestions, but the final decision is always yours. So it was for Alex and Shireen; so it is for you.”

Something was happening near the altar: the shadows seemed to be deepening, growing. Richard was walking in a slow circuit about the room, passing the ancient murals, while Rachel sat frozen, staring. “Perhaps we should consider the options,” Richard said. “I always find it helpful to talk these things through. We could stabilise Shireen, take her to Maria or some other life mage to have her healed. Of course, I doubt reviving Shireen would persuade her to respect your earlier decision. I suspect she would simply try to retrieve the Traviss girl again once she was recovered and, if she again chose a time when I was otherwise occupied, she might actually succeed.” Richard glanced back at Rachel. “If she did, I would hunt her down and kill her, along with any accomplices. My tolerance goes only so far.”

The darkness around the altar was taking shape. In the shadows I could make out something tall and thin, but neither Richard nor Rachel seemed to notice. “Of course, this leaves Tobruk out of the equation,” Richard said. “I believe his intention was to use his own crystal upon Alex. Should he succeed—and he seems quite confident that he will—then when he returns he will have Alex's power in addition to his own. I imagine his first action will be to go looking for you and Shireen to settle some old scores. And given Shireen's condition, it's hard to imagine her offering much assistance.”

“You're just going to let him?” Rachel said. She looked shocked. “You said—”

“Rachel,” Richard said, and his voice was almost gentle. “I appreciate the loyalty you have demonstrated. But I cannot be here to protect you forever. Sooner or later you must learn to stand alone. And to do so you'll need strength of your own.”

“Shireen could help me.” Rachel's voice was pleading. “We could do it together.”

“In terms of raw magical ability, perhaps,” Richard said. “But do you think she would want to? After tonight, when she looks at you, what do you think she'll see?”

Rachel hesitated. “You've depended on Shireen too much, Rachel,” Richard said. “It's weakened you. You could be so much more, but your reliance on her is holding you back. Now, you could heal Shireen. She might forgive you—or pretend to.” Richard turned to face Rachel, holding her with his gaze. “And it will all be back to how it used to be. You'll be back in Shireen's shadow, less noticed, less powerful, less appreciated, always second place in everything you do because no matter how hard you try there is someone at your side who can do it more easily. And perhaps she'll let you have your way from time to time, but in the end she'll always be more important than you are because that's simply the way things are.” Richard began to walk towards Rachel, while she stared at him as though hypnotised. “Or you could take Shireen's power for yourself. She'll live on, in a way. But then . . . ah, things will be different. Instead of being the weaker one, you'll be the stronger. Strong enough to stand on your own. You won't have to be afraid of other mages—they will be the ones who fear
you
. You'll be powerful enough to defeat Tobruk and anyone else who tries to take this mansion from you.” Richard stopped in front of Rachel, looking down at her. “This is your choice, Rachel. Everything you have done since becoming my apprentice has led you to this. Go back to your old life, the way it used to be—if you can. Or take what you want, and your place as my Chosen. The decision is yours.”

Richard held out his hand to Rachel, the black crystal in his palm. Rachel stared at it, frozen. Behind them, the shadow thing had taken form; the darkness around it made it hard to see but I could make out a shape that was humanoid yet distorted, unnaturally thin and stretched. As I watched the darkness started to drift towards Shireen's body, and towards Rachel and Richard. I backed away.

Slowly, Rachel took the crystal from Richard's hand. Richard took a step back and stood watching, hands behind his back. The darkness seeping from the altar reached his feet but shied away from touching him, flowing around him like water towards Rachel and Shireen. Rachel stared down at Shireen; she was pale from blood loss and quite still. Lying on the stone floor, she looked very small.

Then Rachel closed her fingers over the crystal and started the ritual.

I've never seen a Harvesting ritual, not in the flesh. In mage society it's kind of the equivalent of murder; a lot of people talk about it, but not many have witnessed one. I don't know how to perform it, and I don't want to. Rachel was speaking lines in another language, the sounds harsh and guttural, and as she did the darkness seeping from the altar began to swirl around her. The shadow thing was there too and it was behind her now, leaning over her and Shireen, and for one fleeting moment I wondered whether it hadn't really been there and this was all some trick of Elsewhere, or whether it
had
been there all along and it was because of Elsewhere that I was able to see it. The shadows around Rachel began to swirl faster, becoming a vortex, and her voice rose to a chant. I had one fleeting glimpse of her as she stood there, and there was something terrible in her face, desire and fear and horror all mingled together. As Rachel cried out the last words there was a thundering
crack
and Shireen's back arched, her body spasming as something flickered from Shireen and into Rachel, too fast to see. And as it did the shadow thing behind Rachel plunged its hands and head down into her back, slipping inside her. Rachel threw back her head and screamed, and everything went black.

When the lights returned the shadows were gone. There was no trace of the seeping darkness or the nameless thing looming over Rachel. The room was empty except for Richard, Rachel, and Shireen. Shireen was lying with her head to one side, and somehow as I looked at her I knew she was gone.

Rachel was lying next to her, looking groggy. She opened her eyes to see Shireen's body and jerked, scrabbling back on the stone.

“You are my apprentice no longer,” Richard said. He hadn't moved throughout the ritual and still stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “What is your name?”

Rachel stared at Shireen's body for a moment longer, then looked away. She came to her feet to face Richard, not letting her eyes rest on the body. “Deleo.” Her voice was shaky. “My name's Deleo.”

I heard a noise from behind me and turned.

Rachel was standing there. Not the younger Rachel but the present one, the one I'd fought with and against last year, the one I'd met last night in the old brewery and who'd screamed at me to get out. She was looking straight at me and she could see me. She raised her hands and in a flash of pure terror I pulled myself away, trying to copy what Shireen had done, desperately trying to get out of Elsewhere because Rachel had seen me and she was coming—

* * *

I
came awake with a gasp, sitting up in the bed, heart hammering. I was in the room in the Royal National Hotel. The lights were off and the only light in the room was the ambient glow from the window looking out onto the courtyard. I should be safe, but my precognition was screaming at me and I could feel the aura of a spell, familiar and very close. I looked right.

Rachel was standing ten feet away, in the doorway to my hotel room. Sea-green light glowed about her and there was a look of death on her face.

I rolled off the bed as a green ray stabbed from Rachel's hand, striking the bed and disintegrating it into flaring particles. I landed awkwardly, coming to my feet, Rachel shifted her aim, I dodged back the other way, and her second ray hit the window, causing it to disappear in a cloud of dust. Rachel was between me and the door but there was empty air behind me and before I could think about what I was doing I dived through the window as a third ray cut the air above me. There was a flagpole below and I slammed into it, got a grip with my hands just before I would have slid off, let go on the backswing to come down with both feet on a tiny ledge in the wall above the main doors, then bounced to fall the last ten feet to the concrete below. I hit with a jolt and rolled—pain flashed through my shoulder and knee but I could still run and I came to my feet in a dead sprint.

From above I heard a scream of fury and felt another spell; I followed my precognition and dodged right just as a green ray flashed over my shoulder and opened a hemisphere in the concrete ten feet wide with a hollow
whuff
. A second ray fell short behind me, and a third struck the hotel building as I put the concrete pillars of the main entrance between me and Rachel. She screamed in fury again, the sound fainter now, and I knew she wouldn't stop coming. I'd seen the madness in Rachel's eyes; I'd found her deepest, darkest secret and she was going to kill me for it.

I raced out into the main road, bending right. My heart was pounding, every bit of my body surging with adrenaline. A blue van was passing just ahead and I moved without thinking, bounding onto the hood of a parked car, bouncing up onto the roof, and leaping into the air. I hit the roof of the van with a thump and nearly slid off, my precognition giving me just enough warning to drop and cling to the smooth metal as the van accelerated southeast towards Russell Square. I'd been awake for less than thirty seconds.

Twisting my head to look back I could see the facing of the Royal National shrinking behind me. One or two people were staring in my direction but it was the early hours of the morning and the streets were nearly deserted. I couldn't see Rachel but my precognition was still screaming
danger danger danger
, and as I looked ahead I felt the surge of another gate spell.

Gate magic isn't meant to be used in combat. It's too slow; the minute or so it takes to form a gate is just too long to be practical. You can speed it up, but almost no one does; the chance of something going wrong is so much higher that you'd have to be insane to take the risk.

Trouble was, Rachel
was
insane. And she didn't care about risks.

I saw the green flash as Rachel appeared in a second-floor window ahead and to my left. With a flick of her fingers she vapourised the glass and then looked down, her eyes locking on to me as the van carried me towards her. Her hand came up, sea-green light intensifying, and I could feel the spell charging.

The van was going at maybe thirty miles an hour, but I didn't even stop to think. I jumped off and for one terrifying moment I was free-falling at what felt like fatal speed. The ray hit while I was in midair, and I had a fleeting glimpse of the whole side of the van evaporating into dust, looking like some crazy sort of engineering diagram as the cross-section of the vehicle opened to the night. It slewed sideways and began to crash, and then I hit the road.

It hurt. Rolling, bumping, tumbling, feeling pain in every part of my body before fetching up against a parked car with a final
thud
. I was half dazed but I knew that I was still in Rachel's line of sight and I managed to stagger to my feet and start running again just as the front half of the car disintegrated in a dust cloud behind me. A second later I was under an awning and out of Rachel's vision; there was an alley to the right and before she could get in sight of me again I sprinted down it.