Fated: An Alex Verus Novel (18 page)

‘Can he hear us?’ Luna asked.

‘Probably.’ I glanced back over my shoulder. We’d swerved away from the dance floor towards the other side of the hall and had ended up next to a fountain of steel
and stone that bubbled with clear water. A minor illusory effect played over the water causing it to flicker through the colours of the rainbow: red to yellow to green to blue and back again. ‘We’d better dump him before he slows us down.’

I sat Khazad down on the edge of the fountain and slapped him in the face twice, hard. A few people gave me curious looks but you can get away with a lot if you’re blatant enough. I’d just gone through his pockets in full view of all the guests and gotten nothing more than a few funny looks. ‘Khazad,’ I said clearly. ‘Can you hear me?’

Khazad’s eyes were still vague, but I could sense a presence behind them this time, something looking at me with a distant hatred. This was the second time I’d gotten the better of him and, even with the magic scrambling his thoughts, I could feel how much he wanted to kill me. ‘That’s twice you’ve tried,’ I said. I looked into his eyes as I spoke, keeping contact. ‘This is your last chance to walk away. You understand? One chance. Pull anything like this again, on either of us, and I’ll see you dead.’

Khazad glared at me, unable to speak. I could sense the two Dark mages approaching from behind. I straightened and walked away, and the two of us disappeared into the crowd, the noise and bustle swallowing us. The music of the band faded as we put some distance between us and the dance floor.

‘Are they still coming?’ Luna said once we were away. She was craning her neck, trying to look in every direction at once.

‘Yeah.’ Now they weren’t heading straight for us I couldn’t predict their movements so easily, but I knew they’d be back.

‘How did they find me?’

‘They spent today at your flat. Could they have found anything from your body? Hair, nail clippings, blood?’

‘No – yes. Some hairs from my pillow, maybe the bathroom …’

I nodded. ‘If you have something that was once a part of someone, you can put together a tracer spell that works through just about anything. No chance of it failing on its own. We’re going to need something stronger.’

Luna nodded. ‘What do we do?’

‘Head for the games area. Keep going towards those pillars at the back.’

As we crossed the hall, I led Luna in a looping, swerving course. Most divination spells are directional, and if Cinder or whatshername were trying to anticipate Luna’s movements, this would slow them down. We passed knots of people, fountains, more of the white-masked servants, the buzz of laughter and conversation filling the air. The sphere arena had quieted down; a new match would probably start soon. My eyes tracked up to what looked like a blank stretch of crystal wall above the arena and between the balconies, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Levistus was behind that wall, and somehow I knew he was watching me.

‘Alex?’ Luna asked as we walked.

‘Hm?’

‘Did you mean it?’

‘What?’

‘Khazad. When you said you’d kill him.’

‘I meant it.’

Luna walked for a little while in silence. ‘Thank you,’ she said eventually.

I looked at her in surprise, then smiled slightly. ‘You did well back there.’

Luna looked taken aback, then flushed. She was about to say something when a voice spoke from in front, interrupting. ‘Hi!’

I looked up to see a girl smiling at me. She was young, maybe eighteen or nineteen, and beautiful enough to be a model. Long, shining gold hair hung down her back, and she wore a low-cut blue silk dress with long slits that showed off her legs. A black ribbon was tied around her neck. ‘You’re Alex Verus, right?’

‘That’s me.’

‘Oh, it’s great to finally meet you!’ She came to a stop nearby, her smile showing a set of perfect teeth. ‘I’m Lisa.’

‘Hi, Lisa.’ I kept walking, leaving her behind.

Lisa blinked, then hurried to catch up, struggling in her high heels. ‘It’s so cool to meet you,’ she said, trying to catch my eye. ‘Everyone’s talking about you.’

‘That’s great.’

‘I’d
really
like to talk to you.’ Lisa came closer, walking right alongside, looking up at me with inviting blue eyes. ‘Could you come here just a minute?’

Luna had been watching, first in puzzlement, then annoyance. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘I’m here as well.’

Lisa gave her a glance, then turned back to me. ‘Alex? Please?’

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘We’re busy.’ I took Luna’s hand and gestured to a pillar over the crowd, leaving Lisa behind. ‘That way.’ We turned right around a buffet table and a cluster of people holding drinks.

Luna gave me a searching look. ‘Who was that?’

‘Beats me.’ I pointed towards the pillar. ‘We’re looking
for an archway. It’ll be whitish, about seven feet tall. When you see it—’

‘Wait!’ Lisa called from behind. She was hurrying through the crowd after us, looking flustered. I rolled my eyes.

‘Are you
sure
you don’t know her?’ Luna asked, eyebrows raised.

I sighed. ‘You know, three days ago no one would have looked at me twice. This Mr Popular act is getting old.’

A gap opened in the crowd and I spotted what I was looking for: the azimuth duelling piste. Two slender pillars rose at either end, silvery and delicate, looking like a pair of tuning forks. At our end was an archway of white stone, seven feet high. A mage in ceremonial robes looked up as we approached. ‘Hey. Looking to duel?’

‘That’s okay,’ I said. ‘We just need the annuller.’

The mage gave us a look, then shrugged. ‘Be my guest.’

‘Duel?’ Luna whispered once he was gone.

‘Not a duel,’ I said. I put one hand on the cool stone of the archway and a faint silvery glow started to form across the opening. ‘Watch my back.’

Azimuth duels are a non-lethal alternative to traditional mage combat, fought with focus weapons and intended to be non-lethal. Officially the Council frowns on traditional duels, though despite all their efforts traditional duels still carry a lot more prestige than azimuth ones. Annuller arches are focuses, designed to stop mages entering duels with spells active. Activating one isn’t dangerous, but it’s demanding and requires absolute concentration. Any distraction can ruin the whole process and force you to start over.

Naturally, this was the point at which Lisa showed up again.

‘You’re here,’ she said, breathless. She was limping slightly; high heels aren’t made for running. ‘Um, could you—’

‘Look, Lisa,’ I said, not taking my eyes off the archway. ‘This is really not a good time for us.’

‘Trust me,’ Luna said, and I could tell from her voice that she was smiling. ‘You don’t want to get too close to me.’

‘No, I—’ Lisa took a deep breath. ‘I can’t.’

‘Why not?’ Luna asked. She didn’t sound sympathetic.

‘My master wants to speak to him. He told me to invite him.’

‘What master?’

‘… Morden.’

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I was concentrating on the annuller and couldn’t put a finger on it. I finished the spell and took a step back to look at the archway. It was humming softly, and I nodded. It would take a couple of minutes to charge. ‘Who?’ Luna asked.

‘You don’t
know
him?’

‘No, I don’t. Why are you doing what he says?’

Lisa stared at her.

‘It’s okay,’ I said to Luna. ‘I already know what this guy wants.’ I looked at Lisa. ‘The question is whether you do.’

‘Uh …’

‘She asked the right question. Why are you running errands for him?’

‘I …’ Lisa licked her lips. ‘Look, please, you have to come. He’ll be …’

‘We don’t
have
to do anything,’ Luna said in annoyance.

The hum from the archway stopped. I looked back and
saw that a silvery mist was hanging inside it, glowing steadily. ‘Okay, we’re clear,’ I said to Luna. ‘Step through.’

Luna gave the other girl a look, then walked to the arch. ‘Please, can you just come?’ Lisa said in a low voice. She wasn’t trying to be seductive any more; she just looked frightened. It actually made her a lot more convincing. ‘I’ve taken too long. He’ll be angry.’

I gave Luna a glance, then for the first time turned my full attention to the girl in front of me. ‘Look, Lisa. I don’t know who your master is, but I’ve got a pretty good idea
what
he is. If you really want my help, tell me what he’s planning.’

‘I can’t do that!’

‘Then I can’t help you.’

To one side, Luna stepped through the archway. There was a very brief flash, then the archway was still again. Luna looked back at it curiously, then headed towards me.

‘Please, can’t you come?’ Lisa said. Her voice was pleading. ‘I’ll do anything. Just …’

I sighed slightly and looked her right in the eyes. ‘Okay. Leave him.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve been where you are.’ I held Lisa’s gaze, holding her motionless, and spoke quietly. ‘I know why you’re doing this. I know why you think it makes sense. But trust me: you don’t want to stay there.’ Luna approached and I turned away from Lisa, nodding to Luna. ‘Okay?’

‘I think …’ Luna said doubtfully. She looked at her hands. ‘I feel strange.’

‘It’s a nullifier,’ I said. Concentrating, I could see that the grey mist of Luna’s curse had briefly vanished. Now it was returning again, flowing out again and into my ribbon.
‘Grounds every magical connection on you, like earthing a power line. You’ll feel a bit out of place for a couple of days.’

‘It’ll stop them tracking me?’

I nodded and started walking, ignoring Lisa. ‘If we’re quick.’

Luna took one step, then halted, looking over my shoulder. ‘Um, Alex?’ I felt her hand creep over and squeeze my forearm. I didn’t think she was aware of it; she was staring towards the centre of the hall. ‘Not quick enough.’

I knew what I was going to see before I turned to look. Cinder was striding across the floor towards us, a look of death on his face. The masked woman was at his side. They were fewer than twenty paces away.

You’re probably wondering by this point why I wasn’t shouting for help. Simple reason: if those three were willing to kill to get their hands on Luna, others would be too. Dealing with one team of would-be kidnappers was bad enough; I had absolutely no intention of adding to the number if I could possibly avoid it. The same went for them: I knew Cinder wouldn’t want to attract any attention either.

Unfortunately, depending on how pissed off Cinder was, there were plenty of ways he could ruin my day even in a crowd of people, and looking into the future, I could see that we’d succeeded in making him angry enough to use them. In one hand he was concealing a weapon that he was getting ready to use. He’d aim it at Luna the second she turned to run. I couldn’t see exactly what it would do, but I knew it would be bad … except that as I looked, I saw something else as well, something approaching steadily
from the other side of the room. I straightened to face them. ‘Alex?’ Luna whispered.

‘Stall them,’ I whispered back. ‘We need ninety seconds.’

‘Verus,’ Cinder growled as he came into range. ‘Should have kept running.’

‘Who’s running?’ I asked lightly. I stood slightly between Cinder and Luna. Lisa was off to one side, looking nervously between us, forgotten by everyone.

‘No,’ Cinder said. His voice was low and dangerous. ‘You won’t bluff me this time.’ He opened one hand, half concealed down by his side, and dark fire flared up around his fingers, a red-black aura that caused the light to dim. ‘You twitch, I’ll burn you to ash. Let’s see you trick your way out of that.’

He wasn’t kidding; in dozens of the futures unfolding before us I could see Cinder lunging forward to do exactly that. But the very fact that he was willing to try something so crude was oddly reassuring – if he had anything else up his sleeve, he wouldn’t be making the threat. ‘You know, Cinder,’ I said, ‘I hate to point it out, but there’s about a hundred people watching you.’

‘No one’ll miss you,’ Cinder growled.

‘Wrong,’ I said calmly. ‘Or haven’t you heard? I’m in demand these days.’

Uncertainty flickered in Cinder’s eyes, and he glanced quickly from side to side. People were watching; a
lot
of people. As Cinder saw that he was being watched, the future of him attacking faded. ‘You don’t want me as an enemy,’ Cinder said, recovering.

‘As a matter of fact, no, I don’t.’ I crossed my arms, watching Cinder casually. ‘So make me an offer.’

The woman in the mask hadn’t spoken. She was standing
a half-step behind Cinder, letting him do the talking. But she was watching me and, through the eyeholes of the mask, her eyes were boring into me like needles. I had the uneasy feeling that she recognised me, and not in a good way. It felt as though she hated me and I didn’t know why. ‘Fine,’ Cinder said, his voice dangerous. ‘I’ll buy the girl.’

I felt Luna stiffen. ‘Really?’ I asked.

‘Don’t,’ Cinder growled. ‘You sell her. Usual price. Or we take her. And you.’