Broken by Magic

by Rebecca Danese

  “Her behaviour changed over those few months, and she talked of taking us to beautiful sunny places, visiting the top of Everest, seeing the world when Edward was old enough and ‘when Carlton had made his breakthrough,’ as she called it.

  “What I didn’t realise is that not only was Carlton drugging my wife, using her as a guinea pig for his performance enhancing drugs, but that every time she... slept with him... she grew weaker and became less herself.”

  My jaw drops, and I struggle to disguise my shock.

  “She had an affair?” I whisper.

  “Yes, yes she did. It still pains me, and it was almost thirty years ago. One night she went to visit Carlton at his lab. He’d used his inheritance to buy facilities of his own, and after a particularly bad argument, she walked out, leaving me to raise Edward alone. It was a week later that I found out something had happened to her. She turned up in my study—well, what was left of her—and told me everything.

  “She and Carlton had been in the lab together, there had been some sort of chemical reaction, an explosion, and she had woken up three days later, wounded and invisible. Even then I couldn’t bring myself to kick her out, even though I knew in my soul that she had been with him all through our relationship together.” He says it so quietly, so far removed from us sitting there watching him intently, that I don’t think even he notices the tear that rolls out of the corner of his eye. I feel real sympathy then, knowing that he had to experience the love of his life not only walking out and leaving him and his son, then to find her broken beyond recovery by the man he called his best friend. It makes me hate Munday more than ever, while softening a little towards the Duke to my own surprise.

  “I spoke to Carlton only once after that. He had the audacity to come to London, come into my home while my son was sleeping, and try to make things right. He didn’t apologise, oh no. He told me he was expanding his lab, developing a cure for Tilly and a substance that might bring my abilities back. I lost control then and threw him out for everything he took from me, for the fact that he still seemed to look at everything as if it were a scientific problem, even his relationship with my wife and the fact that my son had to be raised without his mother.”

  Ella shakes her head sadly and leans over to put a hand on the Duke’s, her other hand still entwined with mine.

  “I’m so sorry, Your Grace. That must have been almost too hard to bear,” she says softly.

  “What was harder was the fact that the money I had given Tilly to live off, she gave to Carlton to help him fund the horrendous place that we now call the Facility.”

  I have to all but stop myself from saying, ‘aha!’ I knew deep down that there was a connection. The mysterious funding, the coincidental letter W on the knives. The connection between the Magic Circle and the Duke runs deeper than just Edward, and I feel vindicated.

  “He was trying to find the perfect combination of abilities,” the Duke goes on. “He would test people. Find out the extent and limits of their powers and then subject them to cruel forms of so-called therapy to see where their powers would fail them. In order to make it seem legitimate to those outside, he passed his findings on to members of the government, posing as a psychiatrist rather than the Augur that he was, and worked his way through the chains of command.

  “The Augurs that didn’t interest him, he tortured. But he needed one more power, or so he thought, to complete his personal catalog: to become a power source all of his own. He had said so many times through our youth that if there was ever a power failure, the Augurs would die out, and even then I think he had war on his mind. Your parents, Ella, did everything they could to hide you from FADE, but in the end he still got his hands on you,” he says sadly. I look at Ella and notice the glisten of tears in her eyes.

  “And that, my dear, is why I made it my duty to keep you safe. All of you who had been imprisoned by FADE. I feel, in part, responsible for his creation, allowing him to take my power and amplify his own, and for allowing my wife to use our money to fund it all.” He sounds bitter, and I can’t blame him.

  “I created the Society to be a group of Augurs that would help each other, unequivocally and without hesitation, if anyone needed anything. Strength in numbers has always been my motto.”

  “But the Society is in pieces, fractured and in the wind,” I say sadly, thinking that, in no small part, it is my fault.

  “Oh, you underestimate me, Curtis. The London faction was disrupted, certainly, but the Society is far bigger than you imagine.”

  That feels a little ominous, and I look around the room again to see if any members will suddenly jump out from behind the furnishings. Only Mulberry, who chooses this moment to walk over with a fresh pot of tea, is there to witness our conversation.

  “The Royal Blend, your Grace,” he says, pouring each of us a cup.

  “Do you know where Carlton would be keeping the drugs he made, if Edward were going to carry out the plan?” Ella asks. She hasn’t forgotten our original mission, and I admire her for it. I had almost forgotten the information we were supposed to get out of him while we could.

  “Hmm, I think so. For the most part he will have distributed it. There are dealers around the city, scum who profit off addiction. He had so many of his own people addicted to Air before he threw caution to the wind that I’m not sure there will be anything left in his stores, but if he did keep any, it will be in his lab. Or hiding nearby. But, knowing Carlton, he would never put all of his supplies in one place. The dealers are going to be the key,” he replies, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

  The guy that gave me the Air in the club would probably be a good lead, if he could be found again, I think to myself.

  In the time it has taken for him to tell us the whole sordid history, I notice the room has gotten much darker. Mulberry must have drawn the curtains, as the only light comes from small, ornate lamps dotted about the room.

  “Now, time for my finest tea. Thank you, Mulberry.” He turns to us both then, handing us teacups and studying me for longer than I feel comfortable. I take a sip self-consciously, not particularly enjoying the taste but feeling rude not to do otherwise, and Ella does the same.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I say, reaching into my jacket pocket.

  “Another one? Your questions lead us down dark roads, Curtis, and it’s getting late, but yes, one more for tonight.” He gives a humourless smile.

  “The knife,” I pull it out of my pocket and flick the blade open, showing him the ornate ‘W’ on the inscription. “Why did you give this to me, knowing that it would lead me back to FADE and thinking that you had been behind it all?”

  The Duke makes a strange grumbling noise that I realise is him stifling a laugh.

  “Oh, Curtis, I thought perhaps you were cleverly deceiving me when I gave it to you and you showed no recognition of it, but I realise now you have no clue at all. I gave it to you as a test.” He smiles again, but in his eyes I see a slight edge, cruel almost.

  “A test?”

  “Yes, to see how much of a ‘coincidence’ your meeting Ella really was. Easing your way into the Society, posing as an innocent Normal.”

  “What are you talking about?” I say, heart suddenly thumping in my chest as adrenaline flows through me. It feels stifling in the room, and if it weren’t for the wire I’m wearing, I’d take my jacket off.

  “The knife belonged to your aunt, Curtis. Matilda Mayes.” He smiles cruelly.

  “You knew my aunt? But she died years ago,” I say, not understanding.

  “Well, that’s what your family believed. Matilda Mayes took her step father’s name at her mother’s insistence. Before that she was Matilda Wandsworth, and the knife was her late father’s. A family heirloom, in fact,” he says, grinning. I still don’t get how he ended up with her knife, but he goes on.

  “I was quite worried that she called herself Matilda Mayes instead of Wandsworth or, as she became, Matilda Clarence when I married her.”

&nbs
p; The shock of his words engulfs me, and I suddenly feel very sick.

  “B-but that means...”

  “That your aunt, for whom your father hates Augurs so much for supposedly killing her, is very much alive, yes. Invisible, but alive.”

  I can feel the blood draining from my face and my mouth begins to salivate, as if I’ll vomit at any moment.

  “It also means that you are my nephew, albeit a half-nephew, and that Edward is your cousin. If I’m honest, I was angry at first. Tilly had told me how her mother had shunned her own daughter’s Augur side as soon as her first husband died. Knowing that my in-laws were all Augurists was hard to bear, but I loved her too much to care. And the silver lining is that your being with Ella actually brought her to me, right where she belongs: in my care.”

  “And sending me to Avers, to Marvin with that memory stick? What was all that?” I clench my teeth, willing myself to think clearly.

  “What does it matter? You’ve more than proven to me you had no idea, and that’s all the assurance I need. The past is dark, Curtis,” he says dramatically, standing up and brushing himself down. “But darker times lie ahead, I’m afraid, and that is why I called you here. I needed you to bring me Ella, and you have.”

  I, too, try to stand, but my knees buckle, and I collapse back onto the sofa.

  “I need to make sure you are kept safe, Ella, away from the Magic Circle, from Munday and anyone who might try to get you near him. As it is, he’s powerful. If he had your ability, he would be unstoppable.”

  “But he’s under lock and key,” I protest, unable to disguise my discomfort. Sweat beads on my forehead, and I hold onto Ella to try and steady myself.

  “Curtis, are you okay?” she asks, turning to look at me. But all I can do is shake my head, worried I’ll throw up if I open my mouth again.

  “What have you done to him?” She looks accusingly at the Duke, but he ignores the question.

  “Munday has friends everywhere, even inside the prison system. We’d be foolish not to take extra precautions,” the Duke practically spits. “Besides, knowing that Edward is being mind-controlled into following Munday’s plan means we have two threats to worry about. I am the only person with the resources to protect you, Ella.”

  “But, Your Grace, I can’t go into hiding when everyone needs my help. Besides, I have a life to live and people who rely on me,” Ella says. I’m fairly sure that by ‘people’ she means me. Maybe Agnes too, but I’m the biggest liability. Why haven’t the ATU picked up on the threatening tone in his voice from my mic? Can they hear how crazy he sounds? I tap my chest where the mic is a few times hoping it might alert someone, but suddenly the thought hits me that maybe they can’t hear anything. Maybe somehow the signal has been blocked.

  “Ella, think of the greater good here. You’re not safe in public, with nothing more than your illegal powers and a mere Normal to protect you,” he says sternly, as if talking to a child. And there I am, a ‘mere Normal’ again, a term I’m starting to hate.

  “I’m sorry, Your Grace, but unless Curtis and I make a plan to disappear together, it just won’t happen. I’ll have to figure something else out.” I want to kiss her right there and then, but I really can’t move.

  “I had the horrible feeling you might say that,” he says softly.

  To accompany the sick feeling, I now notice that I’m getting a little light headed, and my feet are starting to go numb. Panic sets in, and I try to grab Ella’s arm, but my hands have lost all feeling too. I struggle against my body to move even a muscle, grunting with the effort. Ella must realise that there’s something not right. I haven’t moved a muscle in the past few minutes, and she glances at me, suddenly noticing that my eyes probably look like they’re popping out of my skull, and I’m rigid in my seat.

  “Ella, somethinnnngggssswrong,” I manage to slur.

  “Curtissss?” she manages to say, but my vision is blurring, and I feel myself going limp from head to foot. My eyes fall on the teacup, the Duke’s still untouched in front of him. He looks grimly at me, the answer written all over his face.

  “Basstrd,” I try to curse, but I’ve all but lost the battle against my body.

  “I’m sorry to have to do this to you both, particularly as you are family,” he says, with not a trace of remorse in his voice. “Tilly, it’s time,” he shouts, and I think a door opens somewhere in the suite. It takes me a moment to figure out what’s happening. Why is she here helping him? Did she run straight to him as soon as she saw the knife this morning? Maybe she thought that I was working for him myself, a traitor in my own right. My head swims and, combined with the numbness, I can feel a blackness encroaching on my vision.

  If I could just fight whatever drug he’s filled me with, I could grab Ella and maybe run for it, scream that we need backup, anything to stop events from unfolding before my eyes.

  “B-Banks... help,” I stutter, hoping against hope that someone will rescue us.

  “I’m so, so sorry, Curtis.” I hear a whisper by my ear that I know immediately to be my aunt’s voice.

  “N-n-no,” I try to say. I can just about make out Ella fighting her own battle beside me, her fingers glowing but unable to do anything more.

  The Duke places a hand on her arm, and Mulberry steps out of the shadows to join him just as I hear battering on the door.

  “Ram it down!” I hear Miss Banks shout from the other side of the heavy set of doors. The Duke lifts Ella up and tucks her under his arm as if she’s nothing more than a rag doll, Mulberry gently placing a hand on his master’s shoulder as they begin to fade away. The paralysing tea hasn’t been able to prevent Ella from giving me a terrified look just as her body vanishes.

  “E-Ella!” I call, but it’s too late. The doors burst inwards just as the last trace of them disappears from view.

  CHAPTER 16

  “How long will he be out for?”

  “Could be another hour, depending on how much of that stuff he drank.”

  The voices float across some dark chasm and I struggle to place them. I think one is familiar, but at the moment I’m stuck for names. All I feel is a desperate and consuming anger, though at first I can’t remember why.

  “Damnit!” There’s the sound of a fist thumping something hard in frustration. “I’m furious, Banks. Why let them go up there without any backup?”

  “Ma’am, it was a judgement call. If I’d surrounded the building with agents he would have noticed, and I wasn’t counting on him drugging them both. They’re only kids.” That’s Miss Banks, I realise slowly. I fight with my eyelids to open and manage a crack, but the light practically blinds me.

  “He’s not above poisoning children, evidently,” says the one I don’t recognise. It’s another woman with even more of a severe edge than Miss Banks, which I didn’t think was possible.

  “I’m not a child,” I groan, trying to sit up and shield my eyes from the light.

  “Oh, good, Romeo is awake,” says the new person. I get a quick look at her through my squinting. Tall, black and slender with a mass of curls that have been scraped back from her face. It’s the first time I’ve really thought of a woman as handsome, but she is. She stands next to the bed I’m in with her arms crossed in her expensive suit and a look of disdain on her face. I’m not sure if she doesn’t like me or if it’s just her reaction to the general situation.

  “Curtis, how are you feeling?” Miss Banks asks with unusual concern.

  “Like someone stuffed my head full of cotton wool,” I moan. Then I remember the last thing that happened. “Ella! Where is she?” I ask, panic stricken.

  “I’m afraid that the Duke has taken her away, and we have yet to pin point their location, but—”

  I swear and sit up, immediately regretting it. “I need to get out of here.” I try to swing my legs out of the bed to leave but then find that my foot is cuffed to the bed, instead falling off the mattress awkwardly and onto my face. “Argh, why am I tied to the bed?”


  “Because at the moment you’d be more of a risk out there to yourself than is worth us worrying about,” the new lady says with a wave of her hand.

  “Curtis, this is Ms. Simone Angeles, the new Civil Defence Minister,” Miss Banks says with some caution. The job title is enough to make me want to dislike her, but it’s not her fault that her predecessor was a psychopath.

  “I’d say it was a pleasure to meet you, but it isn’t,” I say, feeling suddenly exhausted. “What did he drug me with?” I hold my head which is thumping now.

  “A strong opiate. You’ve been out for the count since yesterday,” Dr. Lindhurst says, coming through the door and marching straight over to me. She shines a light in each eye, takes my blood pressure, and examines me thoroughly. “Plenty of fluids, and you’ll be right as rain in a few hours,” she says brusquely, handing me a bottle of water. “But we need to have a wee private chat when you’re feeling better, young man,” she adds.

  “And when are you going to let me go?” I ask the Angeles lady.

  “Let you go? You work for us, don’t you?”

  I remember the contract that I signed yesterday afternoon and slump back onto the bed, groaning. I rub my eyes and hope that maybe I’ll wake up from this terrible dream, but when I open them again, the three women are still there with various looks of annoyance, irritation and worry on their faces.

  “What a mess,” I sigh.

  “You got that right. Your friends are outside and have attempted to barge in several times while you were sleeping. I suppose I should allow them to talk to you now. As soon as you’ve been given a clean bill by the doctor here, Miss Banks will get you back on duty.” Miss Angeles nods at me by way of goodbye and pulls Miss Banks out of the room, allowing Lou, Jer and Marco to come in, followed by David and Mumbe, to my surprise.

  Panic sets in at the sight of Lou and Jer, but neither of them hesitate to yank me into a rough hug.