“Guys, I’m so sorry,” I say, trying to control my voice.
“Hey, we know, okay? Don’t worry about it,” Lou says, giving me an unexpected smile. I nod, Jer giving me a gentle slap on the back by way of acknowledgement.
“David, Mumbe, you guys okay?” I turn to them.
“Just fine, Curtis, which is more than I can say for you,” David eyes my handcuffed ankle and pulls a sad face.
“Did you sign up for this?” I point to the room in general, assuming that we’re in the ATU complex under the warehouse.
“Sort of. We’re signed up in that if they need us, we’ll help, and provided we keep quiet, they’ll let us assist you, but Mumbe is working with the Gregorio family, you know, just in case.” David drops to a whisper and gives me a wink. I look at Mumbe who only responds with a solemn nod.
“He has Ella,” I choke, struggling to get the words out. Angry tears prick the corners of my eyes, and I look away from my friends, embarassed.
“We’re going to do whatever we can to get her back, mate. Don’t you worry,” Jer says kindly.
“I still don’t know why he turned on you,” Lou mutters. I think her faith in the Duke has finally proved itself to be unfounded.
“I listened to the recording a dozen times,” Marco pipes up. “He seems to think that by keeping Ella out of harm’s way, he will prevent the Magic Circle from destroying everything. That’s what I understood from it all anyway.” I nod, but it hurts my head when I do, so I rub my temples, and David encourages me to drink water, doing his job as my personal doctor.
“Jesus. And Tilly. She’s my aunt,” I say, still not quite believing it.
“Yep, we heard that too. We found out Miss Banks had taken you too late and were about an hour behind, so by the time you were being drugged and Ella was kidnapped, we were just turning up around the corner. I don’t think keeping us apart was a good call on her part,” Lou says.
“Why’d she help him, do you think?” Jer asks, not just to me but the room in general.
“She saw the knife fall out of my pocket in her kitchen in the morning. She escaped pretty much right after that and probably teleported straight to the Duke,” I recall.
“Maybe she went to ask him if you knew about her or something?”
“Possibly. Doesn’t matter anyway - she helped him and betrayed us.” I clench my fists at the thought. “And to think that we were having breakfast like one big happy family at her house just yesterday.” I shake my head and sigh.
“It sucks, but none of us could have known, especially not you, Curtis,” Lou says, being unusually kind. “I mean, the chances of you being connected to the Duke in that way are ridiculous. It’s a wonder he didn’t mention anything sooner to you.”
“He kind of did. That bloody knife has been in my pocket since December, and I just had no idea. I’ve been so stupid for so long, and now Ella is in trouble because of it.” I want to hit something, but I don’t have the energy.
“Let’s not dwell on it now, my friend,” David says kindly. “I think your best bet is to get well and then use the hell out of the resources that the ATU has here to track her down. I mean, if it’s as top-secret as they’re making it out to be, then they’ve got to have some pretty fancy technology to help track people down. They found you up in Cumbria within a few hours with just one lead, right?”
He makes a good point. Maybe I’m being too pessimistic about it all.
The door bursts open, and Miss Banks comes back in looking a little frazzled. I get the feeling her direct senior has been tearing her a new one outside, and hope she isn’t going to take it out on me. I also don’t miss how Mumbe physically recoils from her when she walks past, and I make a mental note to ask him when I have the time how the two have crossed paths enough for him to create hallucinations out of the experience.
“Right, now that you’ve had your reunion, I need to get you briefed up. You can all stay for this, provided you don’t ask me any unnecessary questions,” she says to the group as a whole. Everyone nods in response, except me, trying to keep my pounding head as still as possible.
“I’ve spoken with your parents and told them that you are safe and in our care but that you won’t be able to return home immediately. That’s just so you don’t try anything stupid and go blabbing to them that you’re now a secret agent or something,” she says, and Marco stifles a laugh at that. Instant guilt resurfaces. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dad has already officially disowned me and told my family that I’m dead or something. There’s no chance I’ll be telling him about his traitorous half-sister still being alive any time soon.
“Here are your keycards so that you can move around the compound on the non-confidential floors. These give you clearance for levels -1 through to -7 only.”
“Yikes. How many floors are there?” I say before remembering the thing about not asking stupid questions. Miss Banks replies with a look that says I won’t be getting an answer to that question.
“You will need to do some basic training. All of you. Although the Augurs have certain advantages, there is no harm in learning some simple self-defence, particularly you, Curtis.” She looks at me, and I try not to get offended. I mean, I probably still have a black eye and another bruise on my face to remind everyone that I’m good at getting into fights, so I can’t blame her.
“Curtis, Jer, Lou and Marco will be staying on base. Mumbe and David will remain contactable but are allowed to go to whichever home they choose.”
Beryl’s got enough of them, I think to myself.
“And when am I going to get un-cuffed so that I can look for Ella?” I demand, feeling like she’s missed a key point to her debrief.
“Well, she should have woken up from the drugs by now, I would say. She might’ve had more of it than you, but we’re hoping that her Augur blood has given her a little more immunity to the side effects. We’re counting on the fact that a clever girl like her will get a message to us somehow.”
“That’s it? You’re just going to hope that she isn’t tied up in a vault somewhere and that she can contact us?” I ask incredulously.
“Curtis, don’t underestimate us. We’re doing everything we can. I have an entire team scanning all of the CCTV in the city to see if we can plot their movements since yesterday. But the Duke isn’t stupid either. He’s covered his tracks well, gotten out of town incredibly fast, and has the help of Augurs to hide himself, too.”
With Tilly helping him, he could literally be anywhere in the country by now. Dammit. I say as much, assuming that by now not only has Miss Banks heard the recordings and discovered that I’m related to the Duke but has also found out that we had her help outside the hospital.
“The fact that your aunt has that particular ability is a problem, but we still managed to find the five of you, and the fact that we’re looking at the UK only certainly helps.”
“Like finding a needle in a haystack a bit though, isn’t it?” Jer adds unhelpfully.
“If you consider that the needle can be detected by a seeker, and that the haystack is under satellite surveillance, then the odds aren’t that bad,” Miss Banks replies.
“You have a seeker?” The thought of an Augur on the ATU team that can point to at least a square ten-mile radius gives me a surge of hope.
“Not yet, but we’re going to be getting our hands on one very soon, I assure you,” she says confidently.
Why do I get the impression that the Magic Circle’s very own seeker might be getting a visit from an ATU team fairly soon? I say nothing, but I share a look with Lou and Jer, who I think are tracking with my thoughts.
Miss Banks takes a step closer to me and puts a hand on my shoulder for reassurance, a gesture I didn’t even think she was capable of, and makes me flinch a little.
“Curtis, we will find her. The lives of 9 million people are at stake, both Normals and Augurs.”
I give a slight nod in response and am grateful when my head doesn’t feel like it�
�s going to fall off.
There’s a silence while each of us processes this idea and the ramifications of teaming up with the ATU.
“You all have a lot to think about, I’m sure. I’ll be assigning you each a buddy from my team for the next few days - someone to show you the ropes and train with, but if you have any questions, you can find me on level -2. Your buddies will be assigned this afternoon, so stay on this floor until told otherwise, please.”
She uncuffs my ankle from the bed frame and gives a final nod before turning on her heel and leaving us to our own thoughts. My head swims with the possibilities of what Ella is going through, and the implications if we don’t find her. The Duke said he would keep her safe, away from the meddling of Edward and the Magic Circle. But with Cassie on the loose, there’s no doubt in my mind that even that plan could go horribly wrong, no matter what he says about his resources or the Society.
A mixture of fear, anger and the bitter betrayal of my aunt churns inside me, like snakes in the pit of my stomach. Now that I think it through clearly, I can see how her actions and decisions led us all down this road. She helped Jonathan Clarence and Munday formulate their plans for Augur domination, or whatever the Duke thought he was doing. She married him and had an affair with Munday. The note about funding left on that USB stick was just another breadcrumb that the Duke used to test me, no doubt. She must have funded the Facility with Carlton to cure her of her invisibility, only to find Munday had ideas of his own, and she ended up forgotten, abandoned by him, estranged by her husband and effectively childless. Was her warning me at the hospital some kind of effort at atonement?
“Some deep thoughts you’ve got going on there,” Marco says, sitting next to me on the bed.
“I don’t know what to do anymore.” I sigh and take another generous gulp of water.
“For now, we should do as Miss Banks says,” Mumbe says, surprising us all.
“You don’t really want to work with her, do you?” David says to him, just as shocked as the rest of us.
“Maybe not, but she’s the only one with any clear idea of what to do next. To go against her wishes now, and that Angeles woman, would be suicide for us.”
Ever concise and always logical, I have to agree with him.
“Better the devil, you know,” I murmur.
“Curtis has the idea,” Mumbe says with the smallest of smiles. He can see David’s trepidation and takes his hand for reassurance. “It may seem risky, but if they’re going to use our friends to help them in exchange for keeping an eye on them, then we can do the same.”
“So, we’re not really helping them?” David asks skeptically.
“Oh, we are, of course. But if they’re using their protection of everyone as a cover for something else, perhaps something less than virtuous, we’ll only find that out by sticking around. Besides,” he says, shrugging, “I’m keen to see the end of this. Clarence and Munday have been at each other’s throats for decades, at the cost of who knows how many lives? I think it’s time that the old make way for the new, don’t you?”
It’s more than I’ve heard Mumbe say in one go, probably ever, and I think he’s said it as well as anyone could.
Doctor Lindhurst breaks up our meeting by coming in and ordering everyone out, telling us to head towards briefing room four on level -4.
“Try not to lose your way - it’s like a maze here,” she says, ushering everyone out. “Not you, Curtis,” she adds to me as I get up to leave.
I raise an eyebrow at her, but she shakes her head and puts a finger to her lips, waiting for everyone to leave before taking my arm and leading me in the other direction.
Her key card lets us through a concealed door at the opposite end of the corridor to where everyone else has gone, and inside I find a short set of concrete steps that lead up to a different lift, designed for no more than one or two people at the most.
“It’s a bit cosy,” she says. She squeezes in with me and scans her card again, followed by a sequence of numbers on the keypad, and I get the sense that we’re going up rather than down. “This is for you, by the way.” She hands me another bottle of water, obviously trying to keep my fluid intake up. I feel a little queasy walking around, but it seems to be passing, the drug finally working its way out of my system.
The lift doors open onto a balcony that runs around the top of the great warehouse, nothing more than a metal gangway with a railing to stop people from toppling over the edge and dropping twenty feet onto the concrete floor.
“Quickly, now.” She leads the way to another door which opens to the roof. I gasp when I see the view. Although it’s not nearly as high as some of the buildings that can be found in the city, the River Thames glistens in front of me in the late morning light. The sun hits it, sparkling and reflecting off buildings in the distance. It’s quite a sight.
“Wow,” I say, smiling at her gratefully.
“Indeed. I like to come up here sometimes when things are getting a bit tough. Some of my best ideas have come from this little balcony,” she says, smiling back. “But I also have something I need to tell you. Seems only right to keep you informed.” Her expression changes, and I sense apprehension in her.
“Is everything alright? Did something come up in my tests?” I ask, suddenly worried.
“Not yours, Curtis, but Ella’s.”
It catches me off-guard, and my mind already begins to race, wondering at the possibilities of what could be wrong with her. It doesn’t take long for the sick feeling in my stomach to come back in full force.
“Now, I don’t want to alarm you, but of course as part of Ella’s medical check, we have to look for everything. Her blood sample was examined thoroughly, and admittedly the boys in the lab would like to analyse it more to find out what makes her so unique. For the time being, I’ve told them to put it on hold until they can get her permission, particularly in her condition. Certainly, she’d make for an interesting examinee if we could have her tucked up safely in our care, and maybe we could answer a few mysteries as to why energy transference isn’t necessary for her.” She babbles on, oblivious of my confusion.
Questions surface in my mind, from why that would be of interest to the ATU to how it would help anyone, all begging to be answered. But instead I ask, “What condition?”
“Well, I noticed a slightly heightened level of hormone in her blood and, although it was only small, I can safely say that it’s a positive result.”
“You’ve lost me,” I say, shaking my head.
“Ella, Curtis. She’s pregnant.”
My entire world swims around me, and I grip the handrail for balance. She puts a hand out to stop me from toppling over the edge just in case.
“The only person I need to tell is Miss Banks. It’s up to you whether you tell your friends, but I would say that at this early stage, and considering what she’s probably going through, there’s a likely chance that she’ll miscarry,” she continues.
“What? Just like that?” My mouth feels dry, and I take a long swig of the water she gave me, grateful for it now.
“It’s very common, I’m afraid. Regardless, I thought you should know. It won’t change how the ATU treat her or our rescue efforts, but as the father of the child, I thought it best you know first. Just in case.”
The sound of those words, ‘father of the child’ send fear through me. Theres excitement in some small way, but mostly terror. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. We were so careful. I shake my head and look out to the river and the London skyline in the distance.
“Does she know?”
“No, but she will, in maybe a week or two. It’s very early, as I said, and there’s a high chance that she could lose it before she even knows. It happens all the time, even in low-risk pregnancies without the mother having been put through the kind of stress she’s going through right now.” The Doctor seems almost convinced of her premonition and places a firm hand on my shoulder. But Agnes’s words from last year come to m
ind. She saw that Ella might become pregnant in one of her visions. She even asked if I was willing to raise a child. Did she see if Ella actually had the baby, I wonder?
“Whatever happens, Curtis, I know you’ll do the right thing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. From what I’ve seen, you have a good heart, a strong purpose and a lot of love to give. You also have friends who treat you better than any family could.”
“You’ve got much that right,” I say, thinking of my traitorous aunt Tilly. So much has happened in such a short space of time. This time last year I was still in college, friendless, girlfriendless and, more than anything, useless. At least now I have a clear sense of direction, I suppose.
I give Dr Lindhurst a hug, much to her surprise, but just as much for me as for her.
“Thank you for telling me. Whatever happens, I’m glad to have known,” I say, letting her go and looking back out into the distance.
A small riverboat sails by, the wind picking up and slapping waves against its hull. Seagulls skim the water and perch on abandoned storage containers by the riverside. It’s quiet here, almost peaceful, and I see why she brought me up here to give me the news. Just having this much space in front of me makes me feel calmer, able to stay out of my head. I take a deep breath of air and find my thoughts aligning themselves. As if, in all the confusion, I’ve managed to find something to cling onto - saving her is the most important thing I can possibly do now.
“We probably need to get back to your friends,” she says eventually, breaking the silence.
“Yeah,” I nod, spotting a familiar-looking skyscraper in the distance. I try to remember where I’ve noticed that strange slanted shape before, but it eludes me.
“What are you going to tell them? Your friends, I mean.”
“Nothing. Nothing has changed as far as they’re concerned, and I don’t want to worry them more.” I sigh, turning away from the view and stepping back inside with her.
Then and there, one thing stands out to me, the clearest thought I’ve had in months: I’m getting Ella back, and no one will stop me.
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