Another door, another corridor. Someone almost ran over us as he came around a corner. He wasn’t dressed like one of the White Rose soldiers, but in a business suit: one of their clients, maybe. Slate stunned him with an enervation spell and we kept moving . . .
And then all of a sudden we were there. We’d come to what was obviously a cell block, metal doors with sliding windows on the outside. “He’s—” I began.
“He’s in there!” Slate said. Death mages can sense living creatures: it’s not as precise as lifesight, but Slate obviously knew what to look for. “Get the door!”
Trask turned the lock and most of the door to dust. Inside was a plain cell, a toilet, a bunk . . . and Haken, lying unmoving on the bed. Slate took a step forward.
“Wait.” Caldera caught him, jerking him to a stop. “Verus, any traps?”
I concentrated. “Can’t see.”
Slate shoved Caldera off with an effort and strode into the room. Nothing triggered and he bent over Haken for a second, then looked back at us. “He’s okay.”
“I don’t like that look on your face,” Caldera said. “What’s wrong?”
“This is too easy,” I said. “There weren’t even any wards . . .”
“Who cares?” Slate said.
Something clicked. “It’s a decoy.”
“Looks like Haken to me,” Caldera said.
“No. I mean, yes, it’s him, but that’s not what I meant. We weren’t—”
“Verus?” Slate said. “Shut up. You’ve done your job.”
“Wait,” Caldera said. “We weren’t what?”
Slate gave Caldera a look. “Really?”
“I’ve learnt that if you bring a diviner along, it’s a good idea to listen to him,” Caldera said. “Especially this one. We weren’t what?”
“Vihaela isn’t working for White Rose anymore,” I said. “She’s bailing.”
“How?”
I spread out my senses, looking for Vihaela. Too much interference—I needed more to go on. I thought about how all this had started. The data focus and what was on it . . .
Information. The real power behind White Rose. I snapped my fingers. “She’ll be at the archives. Wherever they keep their records. She’s going to take them and run.”
“Why?” Slate said.
“Because that’s what she’s after. Look, think about it. What would she want with Haken? She wasn’t trying to silence him, she wants the Keepers here. Everything she’s done has made things worse for White Rose, not better.”
“You don’t know that,” Slate said.
I looked up at the ceiling in frustration. He’s not going to listen, is he? I turned to Caldera.
Caldera looked back at me for a second, then glanced at Slate. “We are still under orders to bring her in.”
“You’re really buying this?” Slate said.
Caldera shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
Slate hesitated, and I felt the futures fork and then shift. “Fine,” he said. “Trask, get Haken out. We’ll take Vihaela.”
“You sure?” Trask said.
“Don’t have time to wait.” Slate turned to me. “Find Vihaela. And make it fast.”
We split, Trask carrying Haken back the way we came while Slate, Caldera, and I headed deeper. With only three of us left, there was less interference to my senses. The machine-gun fire from the roof had stopped, and instead I could hear shots echoing from the ground floor; the fight was still going on, and it sounded as though the Council had brought in reinforcements. Shouts and hollow thuds echoed from below, and I could smell smoke. The fighting was getting closer, which seemed like a good indication that White Rose was losing. I didn’t know where Vihaela was, but I’d managed to get a good enough sense of the building that I could guess where the more secure facilities were housed, and I picked us a route that would avoid as many people as possible. Running footsteps sounded from all around, but in the chaos we were able to make our way across the building without being spotted.
I reached a corner and stopped, using my divination to peer around the edge. The room beyond had a circular door in the far end that looked like a vault, made of metal and massively thick. The lock had been melted by some kind of intense heat, and the door was swung half open. Bodies lay scattered across the floor. A chair had been knocked over, but apart from that there were no signs of battle, and no bullet holes in the walls. The walls in this section were thicker, blocking out the sounds of the fighting behind, and all of a sudden the corridor was eerily quiet.
Caldera frowned at the bodies. “Any of our guys make it this far?”
“No.” Slate came around the corner and saw what Caldera was looking at. “Blue on blue?”
“I don’t think this was an accident,” I said. I nodded at the vault door. “Get ready. Vihaela’s coming out.”
“I don’t see her.”
“Trust me.”
Slate and Caldera looked at each other, then walked forward, stepping over the bodies to take up positions flanking the door. The anteroom had two corridors leading off it, one to Caldera’s right, the other where we’d come from. I stayed close to the corner.
Footsteps sounded from inside the vault, and Vihaela appeared. She looked much the same as she had when I’d seen her out in the grounds, with one change: she had a light satchel slung over one shoulder. She looked unsurprised to see us. “Oh,” she said. “You.”
“Mage Vihaela,” Slate began. “Under the—”
Vihaela waved a hand. “Can we skip this part?”
“Suits me,” Slate said. He was standing in a ready stance, feet spread wide. “You coming quietly?”
Vihaela looked between us for a second before answering. “Three of you.” She frowned slightly. “I’m actually a little insulted.”
“Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble,” Slate said. “We got better things to do than go after freaks like you.”
“I mean, three Keepers would be one thing,” Vihaela said. “But two Keepers and an auxiliary? You aren’t even taking me seriously.”
“We’re crying,” Caldera said.
“Just out of curiosity, what are you charging me with? It’s not as though I hurt your boss.”
“Bullshit,” Slate said.
“Sorry,” Vihaela said. “Didn’t lay a finger on him. You can check with him when he wakes up.”
“If you didn’t,” Caldera said, “then who are you saying did?”
“Now you want me to solve your case too?” Vihaela shook her head. “Come on. If I really wanted Haken dead, you think I couldn’t have done it already? There’s no point offing Keepers. Sometimes we have to hurt you a little, just to teach you to stay out of our business, but killing you? Why bother?”
“Keep talking,” Slate said. “Your men are losing out there.”
I still couldn’t hear or sense any people moving in our direction, but the longer this went on, the better the chance that Council reinforcements would arrive. Caldera stayed quiet, and I knew she had to be thinking the same thing. If Vihaela stuck around, sooner or later she’d be overwhelmed.
Vihaela turned towards the right-hand corridor. “Well, fun as this has been, I’ve got places to be.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Slate said.
Vihaela paused, then turned her head to look back at Slate and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want to do this?”
“You don’t want to pick a fight with Keepers, Vihaela,” Caldera said.
“Times are changing, Keeper.” Vihaela smiled. “The people you work for are going to be changing too. Might want to think about staying on their good side.”
I stared at Vihaela. “Now,” Vihaela said. “I’m going to walk away. If you’re smart, you’ll tell your captain that I was gone when you got here. If not . . .” She shrugged. “Your call.” She
started towards the corridor.
Caldera stepped in her way. Vihaela kept walking, unhurried. She was ten feet away from Caldera, then five. Caldera hesitated and for a second I could tell she was thinking about backing off. I knew I should be doing something, but I found myself staring, fascinated. There was something hypnotic about Vihaela’s movements . . .
The moment broke and the futures settled. Caldera reached out to seize Vihaela as the Dark mage came into range.
“Don’t!” I shouted.
I was almost too late, but Caldera heard my warning and twisted aside at the very last second, just as Vihaela moved. Green-black light flashed, Caldera went staggering back, and Slate struck instantly, death energy lashing out.
The blast hit Vihaela and . . . something happened, then Vihaela was advancing. Slate hit her again, crackling black lightning flashing from his hands into Vihaela’s body, but the dark green light of Vihaela’s spells met Slate’s attacks and it was Slate who was driven back. Even watching it clearly, I couldn’t make out what Vihaela was doing. She was so fast, her movements flowing and precise. I’ve met a lot of battle-mages, but in all my life I’d only seen a handful who moved like that. The closest thing that Vihaela’s fighting style reminded me of was a Dark mage named Onyx, but Onyx had relied purely on speed and power. Vihaela was different; every move she made was like a step in a dance, so natural that it seemed effortless. I’d been about to join the fight, but as I looked at the futures, I realised that I was utterly outclassed. All I could do was watch.
Caldera recovered and charged Vihaela from behind. Without turning Vihaela sidestepped the rush, directed a spell into Caldera that sent the heavier woman staggering, and struck again at Slate in the same motion. Caldera sent a ranged spell of some kind: it soaked into Vihaela and slid off, and Vihaela’s next strike snapped Slate’s head back. I understood now why Vihaela had looked so relaxed. She was fighting Caldera and Slate at the same time, and she didn’t even look as though she was going all-out.
Green and black light was thrown back from the walls, mixing with the brown of Caldera’s earth magic. The floor shook with heavy blows, and deflected spells punched holes through the plaster; the air was thick with ozone and the scent of blood. Caldera stumbled over one of the bodies and Vihaela hit her in the instant she was off balance. Caldera shook it off with a snarl. Her protective spells had kept her standing through Vihaela’s attacks, but she was moving more slowly and I could tell she was being worn down. She moved right to flank Vihaela, her back to the other corridor.
The futures shifted. “Caldera!” I shouted. “Behind!”
Caldera turned—too slow. Air imploded, striking with enough force to pulp flesh, and Caldera went down. Slate moved to cover her, dropping his own attacks as he did so.
Vihaela paused. Green-black energy glowed around her; her hair was mussed, but as far as I could tell she hadn’t been scratched. She turned her head to look down the corridor. “I didn’t need the help.”
A man stepped out into view, dressed in grey. A beard covered the lower half of his face, and he wore dark glasses. It was the assassin from two nights ago, Chamois. He inclined his head back very slightly.
“Protecting his investment?” Vihaela said. She shrugged. “Fine.” She turned to leave.
“Hold it!” Slate called.
“Or you’ll do what?” Vihaela said without looking back. She walked away.
Slate half-moved after her. Chamois met his eyes and shook his head very slightly. Slate stopped.
Then Chamois looked at me. He stood studying me for a second, then reached into his pocket, took something out, and tossed it at me. I felt the surge of a minor spell, giving extra force to the throw. As it spun in midair the futures flashed before me—no danger. I caught the thing one-handed, then looked down at what I’d been thrown.
It was a brown cloth pouch. Looking into the futures where I opened it, I saw a condenser. The same one I’d decoyed Chamois away with on the train.
I looked back up to see Chamois watching me. He turned and was gone.
Slate made a move after him. “Don’t,” I said tightly. I hurried to Caldera’s side. She was down on one knee, bleeding from her ears. “Caldera. You okay?”
Caldera looked up at me with a frown and shook her head wordlessly. She hadn’t heard me. “Slate,” I called.
Slate touched Caldera’s shoulder, frowning. “She’s deaf, eardrums busted. Be fine if we can get her to a life mage. We need to go after them—”
“With what?”
Slate clenched his fist. For a moment I saw the flicker of arguments, then he abandoned them. “I’m going to get them.” Slate’s voice was tight and furious. “This isn’t over. Understand?”
I didn’t answer. In the distance, from where Vihaela and Chamois had disappeared, I felt the signature of a gate spell, and I knew they were gone. Slate punched the floor with a sharp crack.
I didn’t move. Caldera shrugged us off and got to her feet, still unsteady. From behind, I could hear shouts and footsteps, and looking into the futures, I saw that they were friendly. The three of us stood in the anteroom, alone with the bodies, and waited for our reinforcements to arrive.
chapter 14
The rest of the battle was mop-up.
Slate, Caldera, and I fell back to rejoin Haken and Trask. I kept us away from the remaining White Rose forces, and we linked up with a Keeper strike force. Haken and Caldera were shipped out to the back lines, and I went with them.
Slate and Trask went back into the fight, although by this point they didn’t have much to do. In the end, the battle was more one-sided than it had felt. White Rose’s power was in political influence, not in military strength, and their wards and defences weren’t anything like enough to hold off a full Keeper attack force. After half of the defenders had been killed or incapacitated, the rest started surrendering. By the time the Keepers finished rounding up their prisoners, they found a lot of foot soldiers and workers, a lot of slaves, and a scattering of mages and adepts. Vihaela, Cerulean, and Chamois weren’t amongst them.
I went looking for Luna and Variam once the fighting had stopped. They were out on the front lawn, a little way outside the ring of lights. Variam was resting against a tree and wrapping a bandage awkwardly around his arm one-handed. “Look, I can go get them,” Luna was saying.
“Nah,” Variam said. He glanced up as I approached. “Hey, Alex.”
“Hey,” I said. “Glad you both made it.” I nodded at Variam. “Gunshot?”
“He won’t go to the Keeper medics,” Luna complained.
“It’s not like it’s serious,” Variam said.
“You got shot! How is that ‘not serious’?”
“I’ll just go see Anne,” Variam said. “She’s better than the Keeper life mages anyway.”
“I know, but . . .” Luna looked away.
Variam grinned at her. “Upset?”
“Screw you.”
I sighed and dropped down onto the grass near to them. “Luna? You hurt?”
Luna shook her head, but didn’t turn around. I gave Variam a questioning look.
“We were with the security teams around the hill,” Variam said. “One of them caught a bullet from those machine guns right in the head. Splattered like ketchup.”
Luna twisted around to glare at him. “Vari!”
“What?”
“Can you not joke about it?”
“Hey, you were the one who wanted to get in on the battle.”
“Guys.” I raised a hand. “Enough, okay?”
Neither Luna nor Vari argued. We sat quietly for a little while. After you go through a battle the adrenaline rush keeps you going for a while, but once that’s gone you crash and all of a sudden it feels as though you can barely move. All I wanted to do was sit there.
As we watched, a group of people st
arted to trickle out from the front of the White Rose estate, escorted by Council security. The oldest were in their early twenties; most were younger. The clothes they wore ranged from simple robes and nightgowns to outfits with implications I consciously didn’t think about. They moved in an aimless, straggling way, and kept stopping to stare around them, blinking at the lights as though they hadn’t been outside for years. Maybe they hadn’t.
“Those are the White Rose slaves, aren’t they?” Luna asked. “What’s going to happen to them?”
The Council security were trying to chivvy the slaves towards an open meadow to the south. It was slow going. “They’ll take them to the facility in Southampton,” Variam said. “See what they know.”
“What about after that?” Luna asked. “I mean, it’s not like the Council runs social services, is it?”
Variam shrugged. “Dunno.”
A small figure dressed in white had fallen behind the rest of the slaves. As I looked more closely, I saw it was the little girl from the bedroom. She was moving haltingly and kept turning to stare back at the building behind. A security man was standing over her, trying to get her moving, and from his body language he seemed to be getting frustrated. When she didn’t react he grabbed her by the upper arm and started dragging her.
There was a commotion and a short, heavyset figure came stalking out into view. As he came into the light I saw that it was Slate. He snapped something at the security man, who let go of the girl. Slate said something, his voice harsh, then pointed back in the direction of the house. The security man backed off quickly; Slate watched him go, then crouched down next to the girl. His back was to us, but there was something oddly protective about his stance.
“They’re just going to put them out on the street, aren’t they?” Luna said. She was looking towards the main body of the group.
“I don’t know,” I said, watching Slate. “Maybe they’ll have a little help after all.”
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