“For the record, I can’t bloody believe we’re doing this,” I mutter all the way up in the lift. The receptionist barely batted an eyelid at us when we asked for the penthouse suite. If there had been any recognition of us, two of the most wanted people in the city right now, she showed no indication of it. The bellhop, with no luggage to assist us with, leaves us to our own devices, scanning his keycard to allow us access to the exclusive top floor and not bothering to escort us. Everything is brass and teak, polished to a high shine, even the floor, which I can almost see my reflection in.
“Shh. They can hear everything you say, remember?” Ella says, squeezing my arm.
“So? At least they’ll know how pissed off I am about being put into this position. I can speak freely now I don’t have anyone breathing down my neck.”
“Except that everything you’re saying is being recorded and transmitted back to them anyway, Curtis. Just live with it,” she says unsympathetically.
“I still don’t know why we couldn’t both wear the wire,” I grumble, adjusting my jacket so the tiny microphone isn’t visible under my shirt.
“I’d probably fry it if I used my powers, and fat lot of good that would be to anyone. Now stop complaining,” she says as the doors chime, and we step out onto a plush carpet that lines the corridor of the penthouse level. As there’s only one guest on the entire floor, we walk a few feet towards the heavy wooden doors and knock. I look at my reflection in the brass handle and see how tired I look, the bruises on my face now an unsightly yellow.
Several locks seem to be undone, and the familiar figure of Mulberry eventually opens the door to let us in.
“Miss Cooper, Master Mayes, a pleasure to see you again. The Duke is waiting for you in the lounge. May I take your coats?”
“Nice to see you too, Mulberry. We’ll keep them on for now if that’s alright - still thawing out from the cold outside,” Ella says smoothly. I nod and fake a smile, which is all I currently feel good for. I’m under strict instructions not to antagonise anyone or ask any out of place questions, encouraging Ella to do the talking if possible.
Without another word, Mulberry nods and shows us into a palatial living room area. Paintings, probably expensive and more than likely originals, hang on every wall, and leather sofas surround an ornate coffee table, the centrepiece a vase filled with flowers of some kind that almost touch the ceiling.
And there, completely at home amongst the opulence, is the Duke, sitting in the biggest armchair, studying a paper that has a blurry but unmistakable image of Ella on the front, standing outside the hospital.
A vision of the Duke standing with Ella while I watch on, seeing Munday turn towards me with his nightmarish features, eyes black as tar and oozing, fills my mind. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen him since the incident like Miss Banks said, but a jolt of panic runs through me, and a trickle of cold sweat runs down my back. I feel pinned to the spot, staring at him from just inside the door.
“Ah, Ella.” He rises and gives her a gentle kiss on each cheek, as if he’d seen her just yesterday. “It’s so good to see you back and well. You’ve created quite a stir, I’ve been reading.” He smiles, and it’s far more sincere than anything we’ve ever gotten from Miss Banks.
“Thank you, Your Grace. It’s been a tough few months,” she says, glancing over to me.
“Of course, of course. No need to explain yourself. I’m just grateful that you’re safe now. And Curtis!” He holds out a hand by way of encouragement, even though I’m on the other side of the room. I tell my body to move, that I look like an idiot standing there, and he’ll get suspicious, but my legs won’t budge. Now is not the time to get cold feet, or I could blow the entire mission, as much as I disagree with it.
“Is everything alright, Curtis?” he asks, full of concern.
Thinking fast, Ella rushes over to me and takes my hand. I’m not sure if it’s the warmth of her or if she does something to me, but a jolt of energy runs through my body, and I manage to get my legs to cooperate.
“I-I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened,” I say, running a hand through my hair and walking over to him shakily.
“Please, have a seat. I realise that we haven’t spoken since that terrible business with Munday last year. I must thank you for bringing Ella to see me.” He smiles again and finally shakes my hand, his cold and dry against my clammy palm. “A drink perhaps?” he suggests, signalling to Mulberry.
“J-just water, thanks,” I say, wiping my forehead with my sleeve.
He hasn’t changed much in a couple of months. There’s maybe a bit more grey in his blonde hair, and there’s the hint of dark circles beneath his eyes, but he’s as grand as always in his three-piece suit.
“I am so glad to see that you’ve made a full recovery. David did a fine job repairing that spine of yours,” he says, just as Mulberry places a tray of tea sandwiches in front of us and a glass of water for me. For a moment I’m surprised that he knows, but then I realise that until recently David probably still thought he was part of the Society and had been keeping him informed.
“Thanks,” I manage to mutter as I pick up a sandwich and stuff it into my mouth, taking a gulp of water to wash it down.
“It’s been tough,” Ella says quickly, scooting a little closer to me and positioning her body so that she faces the Duke more. I wouldn’t normally think anything of it, but I feel like she’s either protecting me or defending him from one of my outbursts. I’d find it funny if I didn’t feel so weird about sitting with the man I’ve wanted to punch in the face since December.
“I understand, and to think, you’ve been away from it all for long enough that coming back home to London must feel a bit like a culture shock.
“How is your father, by the way?” the Duke asks me.
I look up in surprise. Does he really have people watching our every move?
“He’s out of the coma,” I say, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice.
“A terrible thing.” He shakes his head and looks sadly at me right before he pours us each a cup of tea. “I am at your service if you need anything. Someone to keep an eye on your parents, another healer to visit perhaps,” he says, looking up at me intently.
“Thanks, but it’s all in hand,” I say, holding his gaze. I can’t make out what lies behind those piercing blue eyes.
“I’d hate for anything to happen to your family, Curtis, despite their views on our kind,” he says. I shoot a glance at Ella, wondering if she told him my dad was an Augurist, but she looks down into her teacup, expression unreadable.
“Appreciated.” It’s all I can manage through clenched teeth. It’s taking all my willpower not to launch into a tirade.
“And your face? Can I at least offer to have a healer look at that for you?”
“You mean the black eye your son gave me? No thanks,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. I feel a small satisfaction in his surprise. “You’ve heard from Edward? When?”
“A few days ago. Don’t tell me, he’s been AWOL, and you’ve been worried about him?” I smirk. Ella’s gentle grip on my arm becomes tighter and I know my big mouth is going to get me in trouble.
“Well, yes. He came to me after the Munday incident, telling me I ought to run the Magic Circle, put some control over the rabble that they had become.
“But I refused. My responsibilities lie with the Society, and I just don’t believe that the two groups, with such different views, would ever mix.” He sighs and looks away from us, scratching his chin in a gesture I’ve seen mirrored by his son on more than one occasion.
“He’s taken over, himself,” Ella says quietly, leaving out the bit about him trying to abduct her altogether.
“Of course he has.” The Duke pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “We had a fight before he left, again. You’ve probably gathered that for most of his life Edward and I haven’t seen eye to eye. I believed in the long game, in making sure that Augurs were settled into society
around us so that by the time any trouble came, people would be so used to magic that they wouldn’t think anything of us.
“He has different views. He felt that we had to take a stand and fight for our rights to be seen, and that’s why he joined the Magic Circle. Partly anyway,” he mutters, and I think of Cassie, the other reason for Ed leaving home and joining forces with the terrorist group.
“Do you know about his... other plans?” Ella asks gently. I can see her skirting around the main subject and wonder why she isn’t going for the direct approach, but she knows him better than I do, and I keep quiet. He seems to consider her for a moment, weighing up how much he should say. He glances at me, and I disguise my nerves by shoving another sandwich in my mouth, my appetite returning. He flares his nostrils at my lack of manners but refrains from commenting.
“I think that the overall plan for the Magic Circle has sadly never changed,” he says, sagging back in the armchair. “I can see that you know something, but no doubt you want to hear it from me.”
Ella nods encouragingly, and I stay still, aware that if I interrupt, he might choose to limit how much he tells us.
“I don’t know how much you’ve heard, but I can say that Carlton Munday spoke about an Augur-only London back when we were at school together, long before Edward was born and when things were less... complicated between us.” He sighs, as if the sheer magnitude of what he wants to say is weighing heavily on him.
“I’ve often wondered why Munday secretly ran a terrorist group while also being a politician and seemingly pushed for our registration,” Ella says. There’s a question there, and one I’ve been itching to know the answer to for months, but she leaves it up to the Duke to fill in the gaps.
“Munday wanted chaos one way or another. Never wishing to be caught out, he searched for a way to make himself powerful and had two approaches. The first was to expand the Magic Circle to a point where, when Augur registration became mandatory, he could start a full-scale riot in the streets with its members. With enough people and an un-peaceful protest, he knew that those in power would agree to anything to keep the peace. He would be able to deliver them the peace they needed and call off the protests immediately, giving us authority.
“If there were a civil war, the Augurs would inevitably win because we’re more power full than Normals, despite our lower numbers,” he says, the hint of a threat in his voice.
In a lot of ways that makes sense. Munday makes the Normals implement new laws so that the Augurs he controls will instigate a rebellion. Augurs win, Normals lose. End of story. I shiver at the thought of what might have been.
“And politically he’d be listened to as the Civil Defence Minister, and therefore would be trusted by parliament,” I say, seeing how it would all have gone down.
“That’s right,” the Duke says, not bothering to mask his surprise at my conclusion.
“But he blew it with that stunt on Parliament Green. Why?”
“All in good time, Curtis,” he says patiently.
“And his other plan?” Ella presses the point gently.
“Mmm. Well, the other idea, I think you know already,” he looks at us both again, and we nod automatically. “Ella, my dear, I’ve tried to protect you from him for as long as I’ve known that you were the key to his Plan B, but I fear I’ve only made things worse.”
I want to nod in agreement but manage to catch myself in time.
“And the Facility?” I ask, taking advantage of the fact that the Duke seems to be in a talkative mood.
“Curtis!” Ella whispers loudly but the Duke waves his hand dismissively.
“Ella, please. Let the boy speak. He’s been entangled in our affairs for so long I’m not surprised he has a few mysteries that need putting to bed.”
I smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” I use his proper title for the first time. “I realise Munday was in hiding as an Augur, but how does that fit with him running the Facility? I mean, I couldn’t help but get a glimpse of what was on that USB stick you gave me,” I say warily, even though he likely knows I’ve been digging into the files with Avers.
Ella stiffens beside me on the sofa. If thoughts of Munday and the Duke freak me out, I know that any mention of the Facility sends her into a near catatonia. I don’t really want to dredge up the horrific memories of her time there, but this is the one thing that still doesn’t make sense to me and might even answer my suspicions about the Duke himself.
He studies me for a long time, saying nothing. I wonder if I’ve crossed some kind of invisible line in asking about it, but when ninja Augurs don’t materialise out of the shadows, and I’m not vaporised by magic, I figure maybe he’s just working out the best way to construct an answer.
Eventually he shakes his head and lets out a rough bark, which I realise is him laughing.
“Ah, Curtis, you have the exceptional ability to ask the right questions at the wrong time. You should be a reporter.” He leans back in the armchair and crosses one leg over the other. “I don’t actually have to give you an answer. After all, it’s none of your business and has no bearing on why I called you here, but for the sake of putting rumours to bed, yes, I knew Carlton from the Facility, but—” he says quickly as a look of surprise crosses my face, “—not in the way you think.
“Munday and I went to school together. We were friends, and both of us knew we were destined for greater things.
“We shared our views on how best to tackle the Augur problem and seemed to agree for the most part. He was orphaned himself by wealthy parents who had been murdered by a Normal, and the trauma still showed years later. His ability, as you have seen, is absorption. He can absorb the abilities from others and use them for a time, although I never did find out if he lost those abilities. He was clever and smug about it, but constantly frustrated, striving for more. When Carlton found out what I could do, we worked together to test his limits. It seemed that having an Augur who could use multiple abilities would be a formidable force to be reckoned with in placing people with abilities higher in society. Even before we left school, he was obsessed with making himself stronger and would talk about ‘borrowing’ my ability. I’ve never mentioned it to members of the Society, but I used to be able to amplify.”
I look at Ella for clarification, but she shrugs slightly.
“By that I mean I would be able to boost others’ powers. If I were standing next to someone who could, for example, manipulate the wind, I could hold their hand and they would be able to produce a hurricane. It was rather enjoyable to see Carlton pull the light from a lightbulb, hold it in his hands and then, with me touching him, see him light up the school football pitch with that tiny voltage.”
“Wow,” I say, picturing it.
“Indeed. As boys it was exhilarating. But the more he did it, the weaker I became, I suppose because I was somehow amplifying his own ability to take power.
“We argued often, and I warned him against coming near me in case I lost all of my ability. I met my wife around the same time, and Munday and I involved her before I realised what a dreadful mistake that was.” He looks downcast for the first time, and I think about Tilly and her version of events. She seemed to be hanging onto a lot of regret herself, and I feel sorry for them. Not the Duke particularly, but just a kind of sympathy for their marriage having failed. If they loved each other half as much as I love Ella, I’d be broken if our situation were the same.
“What happened to her?” Ella asks, almost in a whisper. I know we dare not mention that she took us in and saved us from the debacle yesterday, but I’m hoping to understand how she went from being a teleporter to an invisible recluse.
The Duke’s face contorts into an angry grimace, the corners of his mouth turning down as he speaks. “She betrayed me,” he says in a low growl. His fist clenches on his knee, seeing some painful memory in his mind’s eye. A clock ticks solemnly somewhere in the room, and other than the muted sound of cars p
assing far below the hotel suite, there’s a tense silence.
I hold my breath, wondering if he’s going to say any more, gripping Ella’s hand on the sofa beside me. Two minutes, maybe more, pass by, and eventually he mutters, “I would have given her the world. In some ways I still would...” He trails off again, and it takes another moment for him to gather his thoughts.
“Munday, Tilly and I were inseparable. She could teleport, and she would help us access places we perhaps shouldn’t have been.
“Carlton was brilliant - scientific and logical in everything he did. He convinced me he could create a substance that would increase our powers. Mine to replace what he had taken from me, I thought. Tilly’s to help her travel farther and take us to places we had never dreamed of. She could only teleport within the land mass she was on, and Carlton considered that limiting. He said that if she could cross the sea, then there was no stopping us. What we could do for our kind would not be limited just to Britain, and we could travel under the radar if ever we needed to.”
I imagine a younger Munday, Clarence and Tilly, exhilarated by what they could do together and as close a circle of friends as me, Ella and Jer perhaps. I have no idea what Tilly looks like, but in my mind she’s a pretty blonde with brown eyes and slightly olive skin. I don’t know why exactly, but as he speaks, I envision them sneaking into labs to develop the chemical that I know became Air, or some form of it.
“Edward came along and surprised us when Carlton said he was in the middle of a breakthrough. Tilly and I managed to get through her pregnancy with little interference from him, but almost as soon as Edward was born, he told me he needed Tilly’s help more than ever before, and of course I believed him. I didn’t wholeheartedly agree with his ideas for Augur domination after Edward was born. Your priorities are different, and your views change as a parent, you know,” he says, sighing deeply.
“We moved back to London as a family, leaving Carlton to his experiments, but Tilly visited him every few days when he called, usually to help him pick up something or take him somewhere. We fought about it, and I forbade her to see him again, but being the stubborn woman she was, she went anyway, leaving me with Edward.
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