Strange Attractors (34 page)

‘I’m the only one who has successfully linked with the quantum computers thus far, though that was easy enough once the nano-devices were in place. For you it is a matter of re-visualising the unlocking of the quantum keys. Below is the image you’ll need to focus on and the mantra that will take you to a theta brainwave cycle. I trust you meditate regularly? If you are going to do this, be aware of the inherent risks. I don’t know what will happen to your consciousness when the JARROD comes back online.’

‘What does she mean—
comes online?
’ An’ Lawrence asked. ‘And,
computers
?’

‘It does sound like she’d made more than one. I think she means when the spell is activated, when the backup CPU is engaged, Jarrod effectively boots up on the spot.’

‘On the spot?’

‘In the body.’

‘You mean in Rosette’s body?’

She nodded, pinching the notes in her hand, reading the rest of the translation.
‘This is a labour of love, my daughter. A sacrifice. You’re giving up your body for JARROD. When you make the decision to do this, there is no going back.’

‘What?’ An’ Lawrence said. ‘You’re saying Grayson’s right? To recover Jarrod we lose Rosette?’

She let the page slide from her hand. ‘If I’d known this, I would not have passed the spell on.’

‘You had to,’ he said, his voice flat.

‘Eventually, of course, but I could have carried it longer. I could have found another way to hide from the trackers.’ He reached for her hand but it was too late. She was out of her chair. ‘I could have hung onto it and then this would be my sacrifice, not Rosette’s.’

‘But you didn’t.’

Kreshkali shuffled the notes together and folded them into her grimoire. ‘True.’

‘I thought it might be like this,’ Grayson said, his eyes red. ‘The process itself seems painless…’

She turned on him. ‘The absence of pain is not what I’m concerned about in this instance.’

‘I just meant…’

‘We can’t risk it while she’s pregnant, in any case.’ Kreshkali looked out the window as she spoke. ‘There is no knowing how the boot-up would affect the pregnancy. That baby girl’s been through enough already.’

‘But we need Jarrod now,’ Grayson said. ‘Earth is unstable. He’s the only one who can calculate the probabilities, and we need those probabilities to decide whether to evacuate or not, or if there is anything we can do to stop the turbulence. He can determine what is causing it, effect a cure, if there is one. It’s what he was built for. We need him to answer the calls to the many-worlds. The integrity of the portals depends on him. The entire…’

‘Stop.’ She straightened. ‘I know what he is needed for.’ Her eyes narrowed on him. ‘I’m glad you can be so practical, Grayson.’

‘Kali, I meant…’

‘I know what you meant. Our family line exists to protect and sustain Jarrod and so do you.’ She went to
the closest row of books and tucked her grimoire in a tiny gap between two novels. It vanished as she passed her hand over the spine, blending into the hundreds of books around it. ‘But Rosette is not going to activate that spell. Not yet. Not if she doesn’t have to.’

An’ Lawrence stood, making to follow as she headed for the door. ‘Where are you going?’

‘To trade places with an old friend.’

‘Nellion?’ An’ Lawrence asked.

She didn’t miss the hint of longing in his voice. ‘I need to get Rosette out of here. It’s time she nested in Dumarka and Nell is the one to see to her there.’

‘Where is Nell?’

Kreshkali gave a small smile. ‘She’s watching Makee, but that’s a better task for me now.’

‘Makee?’

Kreshkali frowned at the Sword Master. ‘Your friend that you felt so compelled to free from the Corsanon tower knows what happened to Jarrod. Most likely caused it, if my guess is right. It’s time I tracked her down.’

‘Makee knows?’ An’ Lawrence said, screwing up his face.

‘So she claims. He was her bargaining chip, or her bluff. I don’t know which.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I wish I’d cut that witch’s throat while I had the chance.’

‘What’s Makee got to do with this?’ Grayson asked. ‘I thought she was making her own escape back in the quarry steps portal.’

‘It was more than that.’

They both stared at Kreshkali. She avoided their eyes, turning her gaze to the window.
Teg? Are you about?

We’re cresting the plateau ridge. It’s hot as demon’s fire out here, and the shakers are getting worse.

Can you see the mountains?

Aye. Smoking like a festival fire.

Rosette?

She and Drayco are chasing rabbits. She’s happier now.

I’m coming.

Is everything all right, Mistress?

It always is, with a great enough perspective. Meet me at the gates.

Kreshkali turned back to the men and nodded, leaving the library. They didn’t follow. She knew the look she gave them would keep them in their seats.

Are we going somewhere, Mistress?

We are. And, Teg, you’ll need your sword and a warm cloak.

Rosette saw it coming. The storm gathering around Kreshkali couldn’t be missed, even before she landed.

What’s happened?
she asked Teg.
Did she translate the notes?

He shifted from his Lupin form and waited for their mentor, his arm outstretched, his hair whipping about his face as she back-winged onto his forearm. ‘I’m not certain.’

Rosette didn’t morph. The heat was too much, and her pregnancy too uncomfortable to bear in human guise—not out here on these baking red plains and smoke-filled sky. As a wolf, it was tolerable, pleasurable even, though her tongue lolled, as did Fynn’s.

Drayco panted next to her as well.
Judging by her aura, Maudi, I’d say she’s not in a good-feeling place.

I agree.

They stood near Teg, waiting for her to morph.

‘Back to Temple Los Loma!’ she said before she’d
fully shifted. The shape of the black falcon scattered in a twisting dust devil and Rosette shut her eyes against the soundless shock wave that rushed by her face.

Did you decipher the notes?
Rosette asked.
Can I bring Jarrod back now?

‘That’s not going to happen. Not yet.’ She held out her hand to stop the replies. ‘Teg, you’re coming with me. And you!’ She turned to Rosette. ‘You’re going back to your rooms at the temple where you and Drayco will wait quietly for Nellion to collect you.’

Nellion? Is she coming?
Her tail fanned.
What’s happening?

‘The only happening you need to think about is your baby girl and the only place you’ll be contemplating that, and writing your apprentice dissertation I might add, is Nell’s cottage in the Dumarkian Woods. There you will stay put, with your mentor, until further word. Is there any part of those instructions you feel uncertain about?’

Rosette sat on her haunches, careful not to bristle.
It’s perfectly clear.

Like crystals
, Drayco added.

Fynn barked.

‘Not you, little one.’ Her voice softened when she turned to the dog. ‘You’ll stay here, with Hotha.’

His tail wagged and he took off, running towards the temple grounds.

‘At least one of you listens.’ She faced her pupils. ‘Teg, go pack and meet me by the entrance gates. Rosette, Nell will be here for you by midnight. You are not to budge from your room until then. Do I have to put a restraining spell on you?’

Certainly not.

‘Good.’ Kreshkali knelt to the ground and in one smooth motion she launched into the sky. It was like
she jumped out of her body, leaving it behind to scatter in the wind, a black falcon rising from the dispersing particles, shooting towards the east.

Rosette growled.

I think Dumarka will be perfect this time of year, Maudi. Good for a whelping.

She licked her chops.
You’re right, Drayco. But she could have told me what the notes said. I’ve a right to know. The spell’s in my blood. I should have been there when she deciphered them.

‘Should?’ Teg lifted his eyebrows.

Rosette snapped her jaw shut and trotted down the slope, leading them back to the temple grounds. She felt a chuckle rising up from her belly.
There’s a bit of good news there, don’t you think?

What’s that, Maudi?

She said I was to finish my apprentice dissertation. That means I’m still in line to pass, and become a High Priestess by the solstice.
She looked over at Teg, trotting in his Lupin form beside her.
You too, Teg. She hasn’t disowned either of us.
She knew that under his wolf skin, he was beaming a smile.

Her enthusiasm faded when she was back in her rooms. ‘When did she say Nell would arrive?’

Don’t you remember, Maudi?

She tickled his spine when he walked past. ‘If I did, I wouldn’t have just asked.’

Midnight.
He pressed his head into her thigh.
What’s going on in your Twin mind? It feels like a storm at sea.

‘Nothing. What do you mean?’

You have that look.

‘What look?’ She rubbed her face. ‘There’s no look.’

When he turned away, she pounced on him, rolling to the floor where he flipped her over, his massive paw pressing her into the carpet.

‘Tio! Dray, Tio! I give up!’ She giggled, pushing him aside. It took her some time to get to her feet. ‘Okay. There is a look. I can’t stand it any more, Drayco. I have to find out what was in those notes.’

Dangerous business, Maudi.

‘All the more reason for me to know what we’re up against. Jarrod’s lost, though we didn’t have long in Corsanon to look before that shocking spell snapped me back. But we would have heard a trace of him if he’d been there. Don’t you think?’

If he’d been in Corsanon, you both would have been drawn to each other. Even when you didn’t hear from him all those years, before you knew who he was, there was a sense of his existence, every day.

‘Jarrod was always there.’ She didn’t allow the tears. ‘I don’t have that feeling any more, Drayco. In Corsanon it was so faint, and I don’t know if it was a memory or a longing or a hallucination.’ She shook her head. ‘They called me before I could be sure!’

I was there, Maudi. He didn’t answer me either. Then you vanished and I raged.

She frowned at her familiar. ‘What did you just say?’

Maudi, your attention span is getting shorter by the moment.

‘Just say it again, sweetheart.’

Which part? Jarrod didn’t answer. You vanished; I raged?

‘I vanished because they called me.’ She drummed her fingers on her chin. ‘They called me.’

Now you’re repeating yourself. Please tell me it’s intentional.

She laughed. ‘That’s the one thing we haven’t tried! We haven’t done a calling on him.’

I thought you said it was a horrific experience you wouldn’t wish on an enemy let alone a friend.

‘Did I say that?’

Precisely that.

She pushed him off balance with her bare foot and he spun on her, playfully slapping her shoulder with a sheathed paw. ‘But, Drayco, listen! A calling is exactly what we need to do.’

Correct me on this, but if the calling fails to bring Jarrod to us, don’t we go to him? What if he’s a billion tiny molecules spread across the galaxy? It would make it difficult to continue our quest, in such a state.

‘Good point.’ She didn’t speak for some time. ‘We can call the translated notes. They are here. Kreshkali wouldn’t destroy them after what we went through to find them in the first place.’

And then?

‘We read the message from Janis Richter and activate the spell. We bring Jarrod back, if we can.’ She sat up, her eyes locking onto Drayco’s. ‘Let’s find the transcripts first. We don’t have much time.’

Maudi? Do we dare?

We dare!
She sent the answer directly to his mind, tuning into her surroundings, shielding her thoughts.

Kreshkali and Teg are gone. An’ Lawrence is asleep, finally. Grayson’s in his workshop and the library is empty.

Hotha?

Can’t tell. Not in the library.

You think the transcriptions are still there?

I do, and most likely inside her grimoire.

Are you certain?

There’s a quick way to find out without risk.

A horary chart?

That’s the one. Mark the time.

You best do that, Maudi.

Done. The question is, Where is Kreshkali’s grimoire, and the transcription of Janis Richter’s notes?
She grabbed her compass and opened the door wide enough to look both ways. The hall was deserted and she and Drayco slipped down the stairs, silently making their way to the library.

Why so much stealth, Maudi? You’re actually crouching, which I wouldn’t think possible in your condition.

I’m about to do a horary chart to find Kreshkali’s grimoire. Worth a crouch, don’t you think?

Perhaps. Or we are simply going to the library for a read, to create natal charts for speculated birth times? It might seem plausible and attract less attention.

Good thought, Drayco.
She straightened and relaxed her stride.
I’m feeling guilty, is all.

In this case, Maudi, there is ample cause.

Teg loped up the hillside, tracking Kreshkali high above. She let out a long slow whistle and darted into the cover of the trees.

They’re headed right for you, Teg. Twenty strong, with five hundred more on foot to follow.

It seems La Makee was unable to stop the wars after all.

I’m starting to think she never intended to.

Mistress?