“Except you have a link too,” Master Highland said. “And your counterpart will presumably be able to use it too. You are the same person.”
“I’m nothing like her,” Emily snapped.
“No, but as far as the wards are concerned, you’re practically identical,” Master Highland said. “I must insist, in line with the rules you laid down, that you cut your link to the wards before you step through the looking glass.”
Emily blinked, realizing—too late—what he’d had in mind. It wasn’t a physical coup. It wasn’t an attempt to take the school by force, an attempt that would have failed even if he’d managed to kill her. It was... she found herself torn between laughing or crying. He was launching a mental coup. He’d found a logical reason to convince her to give up the wards, to put the school in his hands, and... she couldn’t say no. He had a point. The hell of it was that he really did have a point.
She resisted the urge to put her head in her hands. She couldn’t give him what he wanted. She just couldn’t. She couldn’t cut her links to the wards completely, not without surrendering complete control. And he’d know if she tried to cheat him... perhaps. And... she wanted to shake her head. If she gave him what he wanted, he could keep coming up with excuses not to return the school to her... or simply kick her out. She couldn’t look to anyone for help. They’d laugh themselves silly when they discovered she’d been tricked into giving up control. They certainly wouldn’t help her recover what was hers.
“The risk is minimal,” she said, weakly. She wanted—she needed—time to think. “My counterpart wouldn’t risk exposing herself to the wards.”
“You don’t know that,” Master Highland said. “And you couldn’t program the wards to zap her without getting zapped yourself.”
“...Probably not,” Emily conceded. She found herself caught in a bind. Trust Master Highland... or risk her counterpart taking control of the nexus point? “I...”
“You might be able to alter the wards to detect people from alternate universes,” Jayson said, calmly. “The blood tie would have to be strengthened, but...”
Master Highland shot him a sharp look. “Can you guarantee that the... evil Emily couldn’t crack it? She has two of our people in her clutches?”
“And is she responsible for... everything that’s happened, ever since we arrived?” Yvonne sounded more curious than hostile. “Or is there something greater at work?”
“I’m not sure,” Emily admitted. “Alt-Frieda seemed to think that Alt-Emily was caught by surprise too. And then...”
A thought struck her. How did Alt-Emily know about the Manavores? Had she encountered a Manavore? Had she fallen into the past? Or... Yvonne might have a point too. Something greater could be at work, as the barriers between alternate universes continued to fall. Or... she shook her head. She’d worry about it later.
If Caleb hadn’t been replaced, I could leave the wards with him, she thought, grimly. But his counterpart can’t handle the wards...
She leaned forward. “Cabiria was supposed to claim the seat I offered to House Fellini. I’ll give it to Jayson instead, at least until Cabiria finally arrives. There will be balance...”
Master Highland frowned. “I don’t recall agreeing to that...”
“I don’t recall giving you a veto,” Emily said, as sweetly as she could. “You have a seat on the board. You do not have absolute power.”
She took a breath. “And I need a link to the nexus point so I can find my way home,” she added. “I’ll step my link down as much as possible, once Jayson is added to the wards, but I can’t cut it completely. Between you, you should be able to stop my counterpart if she tries to do any damage.”
“If she comes through at all,” Praxis said.
“It isn’t a good solution,” Master Highland said. “What if...?”
Emily cut him off. “Do you have a better one?”
Master Highland scowled, but said nothing. He’d probably try to bring pressure to bear on Jayson, but... that would take time. House Fellini wouldn’t let him push them around, not when they needed to keep their reputation for fair dealing. He’d find something eventually, Emily was sure, but it would take more time than he had. She hoped. Jayson wasn’t one of his devotees. He wouldn’t surrender his position if Master Highland asked.
“Very good,” Emily said. “Yvonne... how are we coming along with weapons?”
“The first batches of rifles and runic ammunition have been distributed,” Yvonne said. “I’ve stationed a handful of gunners on each of the occupied levels. They’re ready to fight if the mirrors turn into monsters again.”
“I took the precaution of moving most of our people down to the workshops,” Praxis added, calmly. “We won’t have that much room to cover.”
“Good thinking,” Emily said. It felt like a defeat, as if they had already surrendered most of the school, but... she couldn’t fault his logic. “Put a handful of guards outside the nexus chamber and a handful of others in front of the mirror. We might need them.”
“I’ll see to it personally,” Praxis said.
Emily glanced at Cirroc. “Take Alt-Caleb to the mirror chamber and hold him there,” she ordered. “Make sure you keep him under guard. If we have to send him back... we will.”
And straight to his doom, if Alt-Frieda manages to trigger the nuke-spell, she thought. Alt-Frieda knew what she was doing, but Alt-Caleb was so far out of it... she doubted they could get any sense out of him. He was going to die anyway... she swallowed, hard. That didn’t make it right. We might put an end to the threat or make matters worse. Much worse.
“Put Jayson on the wards first, before anything else.” Master Highland met her eyes. “And I want you to repair the damaged wards too.”
“That might be tricky,” Emily said. “The wards are designed to repair themselves.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t seem to be working,” Master Highland pointed out. “Can you speed up the process?”
“I can try.” Emily reached out and touched the wards, very lightly. There was still a giant tear in her defenses where the Manavore had been. “The problem is, trying to speed things up may make it worse.”
“Do your best,” Master Highland said, grudgingly. He stood. “I’ll meet you down in the nexus chamber.”
“Give me ten minutes,” Emily said. She snorted at the rudeness—she hadn’t dismissed the meeting—but there was no time to make an issue of it. “Jayson, stay behind. Everyone else... go do your jobs.”
Cirroc shot her a faint smile as he followed Master Highland through the door, winking at her when Master Highland wasn’t looking. Emily nodded to him, keeping her face carefully expressionless. Was that all that Master Highland had been planning? Or did he have something else in mind? Or... was she just being paranoid? She thought she’d set things up so Master Highland would lose more by trying to unseat her than he could possibly gain, but... it was hard to be sure she was outthinking him. For all she knew, he’d subverted Jayson already.
He was interested in me, Emily thought, recalling the kiss Jayson had given her. Would he betray me because I rejected him? Or...
She shook her head, firmly, as she turned to face Jayson. “I’m sorry for putting you on the spot.”
“I dare say Cabiria won’t be too pleased, but she’ll understand.” Jayson shrugged. “I’ll pass the wards to her when she arrives.”
“That will probably cheer her up,” Emily said. She groaned, inwardly. There were questions she wanted to ask, questions she didn’t dare ask. “Did you finish checking the equations?”
“Yeah.” Jayson frowned. “Obviously, mirror magic is not my field, but... I think I sorted it out properly. I’d prefer to have both Frieda and Alt-Frieda in front of me, so I could compare them”—he shrugged—“I think it’s as close to perfect as possible. You should fall straight into their universe.”
“And see if I get replaced.” Emily frowned. Master Highland had given her an idea. “If I dump both of the
alternates through the mirror, will the originals be relocated here?”
“I don’t know,” Jayson said. “The equations are complex... and change frequently, depending on what assumptions we feed into the calculations. It’s possible that people only get switched when they and their counterparts are both stepping through the mirror dimension. It’s equally possible that the process is completely random. Or... maybe some people are more vulnerable to it than others. I couldn’t guarantee anything. I think...”
He looked at his hands. “I don’t think the process is entirely natural. But... I don’t know.”
“The nexus points exist outside time and space,” Emily said. All times were now to a nexus point. It was how she’d travelled in time. “Or so theory has it.”
“Perhaps they exist in multiple universes simultaneously too,” Jayson said. “The power has to come from somewhere.”
“Yeah.” Emily didn’t want to think about the implications, not now. “But... the nexus point was dead in the dead universe. I... I shouldn’t have been able to go there at all.”
“It’s all just theory,” Jayson said. “We could spend years cataloguing the possibilities.”
“Or perhaps we should keep it to ourselves,” Emily said, sharply. “There might be worse things than an alternate me out there.”
“It’s hard to imagine.” Jayson grinned, teasing her. “Why do you think your counterpart went bad?”
“I don’t know,” Emily said. The memories she’d borrowed from Alt-Frieda had yet to fade. “And I don’t want to think about it either.”
“I understand,” Jayson said. He rested his elbows on the table. “What do you want to do now?”
“We’ll go down to the nexus chamber and get you linked to the wards,” Emily said. “If Master Highland presses you...”
“I won’t let him,” Jayson said. “I’ve dealt with plenty of overbearing sods I’ve had to listen to, because they were my relatives. Him? I don’t have to be nice to him. He’s no relative of mine. He should be grateful. The family would have chewed him up and spat him out by now.”
Emily felt herself smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Jayson winked at her, mischievously. “And then what?”
“I go find my friends.” Emily felt her blood run cold. Master Highland might be right about Alt-Emily predicting what she’d do. She might be waiting. “And then I take them home.”
She looked down at her hands. She’d surprised other enemies by introducing them to concepts they had never even considered, before it was far too late, but Alt-Emily...? Everything she’d done, her counterpart might have done too. The necromancer trap? The batteries and their valves... she shivered, helplessly, as she remembered the wands Alt-Frieda had been carrying. In hindsight... they’d clearly been designed by Alt-Emily. Her counterpart knew everything she could do. She could...
I’ll just have to make it up as I go along, Emily thought. She can anticipate every plan I devise.
She looked up. Jayson was still sitting at the table. “Shall we go?”
Jayson didn’t move. “After this”—he cleared his throat—“never mind.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “After this... what?”
Jayson colored. “After this, would you let me court you?”
“You’re asking me now?” Emily couldn’t decide if she wanted to laugh or hex him. “I... right now, we have other problems.”
“I know.” Jayson looked down. “But... I... I just couldn’t work up the nerve to ask.”
Emily winced, inwardly. She knew what it felt like to... to try to work up the nerve to ask for something, something that could easily be refused, something that... the mere act of asking for it would render someone vulnerable. She understood. She understood all too well. But... she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk another courtship, let alone anything else.
She met his eyes. “Did your family ask you to court me? Again?”
Jayson’s face grew redder. “Not this time,” he said. “And... I do like you.”
“This is probably not a good time,” Emily said, dryly. She wondered what had prompted him to ask now, of all times. There was no way she could ask. “Jayson...”
She took a breath. “At some point, sooner rather than later, I have to start my apprenticeship. I cannot court anyone, not now. I don’t even have time for a simple relationship. Afterwards, if you’re still interested, maybe. But not now.”
“I understand.” Jayson looked torn between relief and shame, as if he wished the floor would open and swallow him whole. “I... I’ll ask again, when your apprenticeship is finished.”
“Please.” Emily kept her expression as blank as possible. It wasn’t that she had any reason to dislike him, beyond the fact his family had urged him to court her, it was... it was that she wasn’t ready for a third relationship. And besides, they had too many other problems. His timing was appalling. He could have waited until they rescued their friends, surely. “You can ask again then, when I’m done.”
She nodded to the door. “We’d better get moving. Time is not on our side.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
EMILY’S THOUGHTS CHURNED AS SHE AND Jayson walked to the nexus chamber, passing a handful of covered mirrors. Two were surrounded by runes, chalk runes. Why had Jayson chosen now, of all times, to ask if he could court her? Bad timing? Or something more sinister? Or... she put the thought out of her mind as she passed a third mirror, cursing under her breath as just how weak the runes looked. It was hard to believe they could stop a Manavore in its tracks.
And if we miss one, just one, it could free the others, she thought. And then we’d have a real nightmare on our hands.
She felt the air turn colder as they nodded to the guards and entered the nexus chamber itself. It felt larger, somehow—she heard Jayson let out a gasp as he saw the stone bridges hanging over the spark of light—and tense, as if it was waiting for something to happen. Master Highland stood in front of them, staring at the nexus point as if he were hypnotized. Emily was tempted to walk up behind him and tap his shoulder, but she told herself—firmly—it was an urge that shouldn’t be indulged. It might result in all three of them plunging into the dimensional tangle below the nexus point.
Master Highland turned as they approached. “I dropped a coin into the void,” he said, pointing down. “And it fell down from above and nearly landed on my head.”
“It’s a twisted dimension,” Emily said. “The whole place is designed to channel power.”
“So if I flew up,” Jayson said, “would I eventually find the nexus point above me?”
“I think so,” Emily said. It made sense, but... “I never thought to try.”
“So why is it still intact?” Master Highland frowned. “The nexus point was dead, right? So why did the dimensional twist remain in place? It should have snapped out of existence as soon as the power failed.”
“I don’t know,” Emily said. The simplest answer was that it hadn’t remained in place—she hadn’t dared jump off the bridges before they’d reignited the nexus point—but if that were true, it raised a number of other questions she had no answers for. “It will take us some time to parse out the logic...”
“If we ever can,” Master Highland said. He glared around the chamber. “I dislike not knowing.”
“Then leave.” Jayson met his eyes, evenly. There was no give in his voice. “There’s no way to snap our fingers and get the answers dropped into our laps. We have to work it out piece by piece.”
Master Highland blinked, but said nothing.
Emily felt touched. She had to clear her throat before she could speak. “Jayson, I’m going to add you to the wards first,” she said. It was hard to speak clearly. “Once that’s done, I’m going to step down my access as much as possible and then go back to the mirror.”
And that will be less than you think, she added, as she knelt on the bridge. The air around her was suddenly thrumming with magic, pulsing as if she were c
aught inside a drum. I won’t give up everything.
“I’m ready,” Jayson said. He looked as if he wanted to give her a hug, but didn’t dare. “Master?”
“Get on with it,” Master Highland ordered. “We don’t have all day.”
Emily smiled. Master Highland had been outplayed, more by luck than judgement. And he knew it. It couldn’t be easy for him to watch his plan go down in flames, even though he’d managed to maintain a certain degree of plausible deniability. She could hardly complain about something that had been intended to help, could she? And there was no disputing his cover story. Who knew what outsiders would think if they only heard one side of the story? They might see him as the hero and her as the silly little girl who’d managed to get in well over her head.
“Brace yourself,” Emily said. She closed her eyes and reached out to the wards. “Here we go...”
A wave of sensation assailed her as she plunged her mind into the network she’d seeded and watched grow. The damaged section was trying to repair itself, but failing miserably. The Manavore hadn’t just harmed the wards themselves; it had, somehow, damaged the underlying structure as well. She had no idea how that had happened, unless... she frowned as she worked her way through the damaged section, her mind recoiling at what she found. The entire network was caught in a trap, trying to repair itself and yet unable to make any real progress. And...
“We may have to rebuild the wards from scratch,” she said. She wasn’t sure how to do that, not as long as the fragmented spellware continued to draw power from the nexus point. “I can’t see how to repair the damage without...”
“That’s what comes of newfangled designs,” Master Highland said, dryly. Emily could barely hear him over the rushing in her ears. “You can’t repair them when you need to...”
“The designs are nearly a thousand years old,” Emily said. She reached out, surveying the damage more closely. The threads of magic were steadily coming apart, reaching out to touch... touch what? A thought struck her and she swore. “Oh, fuck...”
Mirror Image (Schooled in Magic Book 18) Page 32