by Jasmine Walt
I don’t lie, I’d said to Ada, but it wasn’t true. There was more than one way to lie. Like omitting the truth, because it was easier than facing the fallout.
I stopped walking. “Ada,” I said.
“Huh?”
“We’re not going back to London. I’d rather not go back to Earth at all, but we don’t have the paperwork. I’m going to call Simon at the New York branch and tell him you’re coming. You’ll have to lie low at the shelter there.”
Her mouth fell open. “You’re joking. I’m not going anywhere. My family’s in London, Kay.”
“I know, but the Campbell family won’t give up. They want to use you to destroy Central, and they’ll be expecting us to go back there. They might have an ambush prepared.”
“What, we hide like cowards?”
“I’d rather that than destroy the Alliance, wouldn’t you?”
“Don’t you patronise me, Kay Walker,” she spat. Her eyes gleamed with fury. “My family are more important to me than anything in the Multiverse. I wouldn’t expect you to get that, seeing as your father volunteered you as an experiment, but–” She stopped, her breath catching. Her eyes said, Oh, hell.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t shout after her as she turned around and ran. The roaring in my ears kicked up again, loud and insistent and in tandem with the magic surging in the air, gathering around me like a swarm of moths drawn to a flame.
ADA
It was more difficult than I’d expected, running through the Passages in those awkwardly fitting Valeria-style metal-plated shoes. The floor was slippery as hell. Not to mention I’d have a serious disadvantage in a fight if my shoes fell off. Maybe I should have stolen Kay’s shoes, while he stood there staring at me like I’d just…
Said something unforgivable.
I couldn’t think about that right now. Of course, some part of me knew it was stupid to go back to Earth. But… no. That was a line I wouldn’t cross. I could never abandon Nell.
I’d been around this area before, Delta sometimes used that Passage, so I at least knew the way back to the doors to Earth from there. The problem was, of course, there had been a chalder vox and a bunch of dreyverns at one entrance, and a wyvern at the other. Between effing Scylla and Charybdis, I thought, recalling Nell’s reading me Greek mythological tales when I was younger, as much for her own benefit as a non-Earth native as my own.
I had to get to Nell. I had to see if she’d woken up, if Jeth and Alber were okay. So I headed in the direction I’d used too many times to count, when helping people back to Earth. I might not have weapons, but I had magic. If anything attacked me, well, it’d be the worse for them.
Don’t think about that.
And definitely don’t think about Kay.
I half-ran, half-skidded into the right corridor, and found the door. Right where I’d left it. The Alliance had cleaned up the mess from where the dreyverns and chalder vox had attacked. All was eerily quiet. The door slid open without a sound. I drew in a steadying breath and walked out into the alleyway. It was only when I stood on my doorstep that I realised I’d unconsciously walked home. I glanced around, but no one was behind me. I didn’t have a key, of course, but I’d hidden a lock pick under a loose tile in the yard for this very purpose. First step: find weapons.
BANG.
A blast of magic roared through the air, taking me off my feet. I was too startled to cry out as my back slammed into the fence and I slid to the ground. Three people emerged from the house. All were dressed in suits of glittering black. Delta and two of his cousins.
“I suspected you’d come home,” said Delta. “It’s easy to get off Valeria, you know. I can’t believe you were idiot enough to come here alone.”
I jumped to my feet and fired my most expressive curses at him, following up with a bolt of magic. But instead, I was the one who was knocked to the ground again—had he blocked my attack?
“There’s someone here who wants to talk to you,” said Delta’s cousin, Josef. “She’s pretty pissed with you for killing her brother.”
My insides twisted. I stood again, swallowing back nausea.
Delta shook his head, an awed kind of horror in his expression. “Damn, Red. I didn’t know you’d go ahead and do it. That’s messed up.”
Ignore them. They’re trying to distract you.
A footstep behind me. The girl had appeared from thin air, inches away from me. I stepped back instinctively, dread gripping my limbs. Her face was tear-streaked and her jaw set.
“Don’t mess her up too badly,” said Delta’s other cousin, Gregor. “We need her alive. She’s our weapon.”
“Like hell,” I said, and attacked first. The girl didn’t bother to block my strike—but she suddenly wasn’t there anymore. Invisible again. A blow struck me on the back of the head. I whipped around, kicking blindly. No way to tell where she was.
I stilled, frustrated, looking around for any clue where she might be. Any disturbance. Delta’s cousins were both smirking, though Delta himself still watched me, eyes wide.
Fingers touched my face, pressing into the corners of my eyes. I jerked my head away, squeezing my eyes shut, but Delta’s cousins moved in unison, grabbing my arms to stop me lashing out.
“Come on, Ada, cooperate,” said Josef. “We want to see your pretty eyes. Your real eyes. Janice here reckons it’s the key to your magic.”
“Stop!” I yelped as fingers dug into both corners of my eyes. I kicked out blindly and Josef cursed.
“Get the lenses out, girl, and we won’t have to break you.”
“You’re planning to use me as a bomb, you psychos!” I hit out and by the pain that shot through my wrist, I could tell I’d struck him in the face. Now I knew where my target was. I kicked blindly and stuck out an elbow when I sensed Gregor come up behind me.
“This is fun,” said the girl, Janice, “but you killed my brother. I’m not in the mood for screwing around.”
The magic stirred the air a split second before it hit me like an electric current. I was flung onto the ground, and my eyes flew open. Delta’s cousins had been sent flying, too, but Janice merely laughed at them and walked up to me. “You’re stronger than I am, but you don’t know half what you can do.” As I sat up, she aimed a punch at me. I rolled over and she missed wildly—but the magic didn’t. My spine arched, and every hair on my body stood on end as the shock rippled through me.
Earth should never have such high levels.
“You’re going to mess up the whole Balance!” I gasped.
“That’s the plan,” said Delta. “Attacking Central will swing the Balance towards Earth. Right?” He looked to Josef for confirmation. “It’s already happening. When the Balance comes this way, it’s drawn away from high-magic places like Enzar. They won’t stand a chance when we turn our weapon on them next.”
“I’m nobody’s weapon,” I spat at Delta.
“Pretty girl, you were born to be a weapon,” said Josef, and I didn’t care for the hunger in his expression.
“Yeah,” said Janice. “Delta reckons you must have some sort of absorbent in whatever crazy magic’s inside you, ’cause that attack should have really hurt. I kinda want to see what you can do. But we’ve gotta get a move on, right?”
“Yes, we have,” said Gregor. “We need to take her back to Central.”
“You’re not taking me anywhere.”
“Sorry, Ada,” said Delta, “but two of our people are at the hospital right now.” He took out his phone. I couldn’t help notice his hands were shaking slightly as he tapped the screen. “They’re hidden, of course, but one word from me and they’ll go after your brothers. I know your guardian’s seriously hurt.” His voice trembled on the last word, but he nodded to his cousins.
My insides plummeted downwards into icy darkness. “You bastards.”
“We need you, Ada,” said Delta, with another glance at Josef. “You heard my dad, right? You’re a weapon. We can’t let you go now. We need your magic.�
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“I don’t,” said Janice. “But you’re gonna die anyway, so I’m happy to let these guys take care of it. You’re gonna kill worlds, Ada. And then, once these guys are done with you, I’m coming for you.”
“I’m not your weapon. It’s suicide, for both of us. If you use me to attack, then I’ll be killed along with everyone else. Is that really what you want?”
“I’m not fussed either way, to be honest,” said Janice.
“Actually–” Delta began, but Josef cut him off.
“You’ll see when we reach Central,” he said. “Don’t give away our secrets now, Delta.”
“We have to go,” said Gregor. “Your choice, girl. If you don’t help us, your family dies. Delta, dial the number.”
“Sure.” Delta looked a touch paler, but he tapped buttons on his phone. Valerian technology hooked up to the offworld network, of course.
There was the unmistakable sound of a dial tone and then a male voice.
“Wait!” I said, scrambling to my feet. “Don’t hurt them.” I bit my lip. I hated begging, but there was absolutely no doubt Delta’s ruthless family would kill Nell, Jeth, and Alber if I didn’t obey. It was hopeless expecting otherwise. I knew Nell would tell me to save my own life first, but I couldn’t do that to my brothers. Not for the world, not for the Multiverse. Delta had known that. It was one of the few parts of my life I’d shared with him.
One of the few certainties in my whole life.
“Excellent,” said Delta’s cousin, taking my arm. “If you’d come with us…”
Janice giggled, but when she looked at me, her eyes were full of malice. I shook with anger all over. Wait till you get to the Passages. The level of magic on Earth was higher than it had ever been, but in the Passages, it’d be even stronger. There was no time for caution. I’d hit them with everything I had.
Delta looked oddly relieved as he led the way, Janice skipping ahead. He turned back to make sure I was following. I had a cousin on either side, and I knew running wasn’t an option. Even if Delta plainly didn’t agree with every detail of the plan, he’d do anything his family asked him to. Since I’d known him, he’d always had to ask permission from his father for the most ridiculous things. I’d never thought it odd. I sure as hell never considered he’d kidnap me and threaten my family.
Every step seemed endless as I followed them back the way I’d come, to the Passages. The door slid open. The instant my foot touched the metal floor, magic flowed over me, and I drew it in and unleashed it in a second level blast that ought to have taken all of them off their feet, at least. But instead, I was the one knocked over. The hard floor grazed my elbows. I gasped, the current making my hands tingle and the hairs rise on my arms.
“Magicproof, baby,” said Delta, indicating the sharp new jacket he wore. “New patent.”
“You look ridiculous,” I said, pushing to my feet. Not my best line, but I was all out of imagination. And patience. I fired magic at the ground, instead. I might not be able to hit them with magic, but I could knock them off balance, and it gave me the chance to get a good punch in. Delta’s head snapped back with a satisfying crack. But I hadn’t put enough power behind it to break his jaw.
“Gods, Ada!” he said, clutching his face. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m not the one you should be angry with.”
“You’re joking, right?” I said. “You deserve worse than this.” Magic swirled towards me again, urging me to unleash it, but I held off, knowing it wouldn’t work.
“I can make the call from in here, you know,” said Delta, rubbing the spot where I’d hit him.
“Yes, speaking of calls,” said Josef, “our father’s on his way. We’ll take her to meet him.”
“I have a name,” I said, fully aware that any tenuous grip on the situation was slipping away by the second.
“Adamantine,” said Janice, smirking. “How cute.”
“Yes, and I’m starting to get bored,” said Josef. “We’ve an appointment to keep.”
And he and his brother seized me by a shoulder each. A current ran through me, so sudden that I gasped. I twisted around. They’d clamped a metal plate to each shoulder, and they contained some kind of magic source. A powerful one that made my bones rattle.
“Should we up the voltage, so to speak?” asked Josef. “I think when she meets our uncle again, she ought to show him her real eyes.”
“Yes, that’s true,” said Gregor. “Now.”
I screamed, my back arching, my eyes flying open. Every cell in my body pulsed with the shock. I was aware that I was falling, that the cousins had caught me, that fingers were pressing into my eyes and I couldn’t move, couldn’t stop them sliding the lenses out—the slightest sting—and then everything went blinding white.
21
Kay
Pull yourself together.
There was nothing to do but head back to Central. I had a fairly good idea where Ada had gone, but I needed to make sure the Alliance had spread the message around and the council members, at least, had left London. I knew they had safe houses for these kinds of situations and the other Alliance branches worldwide and maybe even offworld would be preparing themselves for the worst-case scenario. The Alliance would survive.
Magic was thick in this part of the Passages, and grew more potent as I approached the corridor leading to Central, like a blanket over all the senses, so all I could hear was a dull humming sound, and the world was overlaid with red…
Wait. I could hear something else. Distantly. Shouts. Running. Screaming.
Then I turned the corner, and a wall of sound hit me like I’d walked from a soundproofed room out into a battlefield. People ran everywhere—some people, some dreyverns. Blasts of magic shook the air and sent bodies flying. Someone had put up a barrier so no one offworld would be able to see or hear the fighting.
I swore and went for my dagger in time to intercept a dreyvern’s attack. Grinning, it slashed at me with its knife, pit-like eyes glittering. I dodged the blow and went for the weapon hand, broke its wrist almost without thinking, and threw the dagger point first at a second dreyvern who’d spotted me. Right through the throat. The dreyvern went down with a choked yell.
Magic crackled like red lightning, knocking several people flying. I didn’t see who’d used it, but it took me off my feet and slammed me into the wall. Who the hell would use second level magic in here? This was the absolute worst place for magic-based combat, all the worse for the number of people here. Alliance members, and others. Not all the opponents were dreyvern. The people fighting the guards wore an odd, scaled-looking uniform not like anything from Earth. Did they work for the Campbell family? Probably.
I’d got back too late. The Alliance was already under attack. Cursing, I pushed away from the wall and ran through the fighting, knocking aside dreyverns and humans alike. Turning into another corridor, I could see the door to London was wide open, though blocked by a mass of bodies. Now I was in the thick of the battle. I wasn’t armed nearly enough to deal with so many opponents, with the stunner useless and only one dagger, and magic would do more harm than good here in the Passages.
Someone else had no issue with using it, though, judging by the sparks flying out. As I kicked a dreyvern aside, there was a gap in the mass of bodies, and I saw Ellen—no, Skyla—fighting a group of guards, none of whom seemed inclined to go near her. She’d escaped. Or someone had set her free.
Our eyes locked, and she smiled at me. “Finally, a worthy opponent!” she shouted, the magic seeming to amplify her voice and throw it across the corridor at me. “Get over here, Kay Walker.”
And she threw a blast of magic at the writhing crowd, forcing it to part down the middle. Amazingly, the fighting continued, though muted, and behind, I could hear another sound, one that made my blood freeze. A wyvern’s cry. It’s not dead? Not that I could see outside, because Ellen, or Skyla, was in the way of the door.
She grinned. “Pretty good accuracy, right?” She held someth
ing in her left hand. Her communicator.
She’d duped us all that day when we’d killed the chalder voxes. To keep us away from her double life’s secret Passage.
Dammit. She wanted a fight, I’d give her one. First step was to get her out of the freaking Passages before she blew us all up.
I ran at her, dodging the blasts of magic she fired in the seconds before I got close enough to hit her with one of my own. One shot—that was all I’d risk. And she didn’t even duck, like she’d wanted to lure me out onto Earth, I thought, tackling her and sending us both tumbling out of the doorway. She smiled as I pinned her to the ground, her face turning into Ellen’s again. Probably an attempt to distract me. It didn’t work.
“Last chance to back out,” I said, feeling the static build in my hands. Like it had wanted to break out the whole time. It shouldn’t be this strong on Earth, but at least I could use it.
“Oh, bring it on,” she goaded, her eyes teasing me. Would I fire pure magic into a human being, knowing what it would do to them? Perhaps she expected me to back down. Perhaps if I hadn’t killed already, I would have done.
She’d killed three innocent people herself, and started a war.
I released the charge.
Boom.
The ground trembled underneath us and Ellen moved suddenly, the bolt of magic striking the tarmac instead. The world flipped over as the backlash struck, sending me flying into a half-crushed car. The impact barely registered as magic slammed into me again, and this time, it was like an electric shock. Fuck! I slid down the car’s side, the tremor shaking every nerve. I tried to stand, but it pushed me back, relentless. Skyla had got to her feet, still wearing Ellen’s face and grinning all over it.
“Knew you had a breaking point somewhere, Kay Walker. I admit, I didn’t really think your father would use you as one of his experiments. He hated magic, from what I heard.”