“It’s writer, ” he said, and bit his lip.
“Yeah, gotcha,” I said. “Once the lines of the tag start to glow, you, Tully, will need to identify the mana cycles-the magical power circuit. Then Cinnamon can tell me which points to destroy in what order to create maximum feedback.”
“But I don’t knows how-” Cinnamon said.
“It’s a simple logic problem,” I said. “You’ll know it when you see it. It’s why you’re precious, remember? I don’t need you to explain it. Just see it and tell me. Remember, stay close to me while I’m doing the first dance, then as soon as I tell you, step straight back to the edge of the circle while I’m working. If anything goes wrong, Iadimus’s magicians will pull you out.”
“We will not,” the female magician said.
The lich raised his hand. “Do as she says. We must question them if she fails,” he hissed. “And you must be on hand in case the circle is broken when she takes them through the barrier.”
Reluctantly, the two magicians stepped forward. The lich stood behind one of them; Vladimir stood behind the other. I put my hands on Cinnamon and Tully’s shoulders and led them forward, straight up to the edge of the magic circle.
“How will you stop it from grabbing us?” Tully asked fearfully.
“Arcturus, my master, taught me how,” I lied. “Ready?”
“Yes,” she said, swallowing. “Fuck!”
“All right,” I said, “let’s do this.”
I raised my hands and stepped right up to the edge of the field. I stared at the spinning whorl, at the six arcs of stone, then closed my eyes. For the moment, the magic of the tag was a distraction: I needed to feel the magic of the circle first.
I heard the surging of the magic barrier as it tried to contain the magic within, the muffled roaring of the flames, and beyond that, like a hidden baseline newly noticed on a familiar song, the humming of the spinning whorl as it gathered its power.
I spun, then began shimmying my arms up and down, harmonizing myself with the field. Then I slowly lowered my hands, placing them on Cinnamon’s and Tully’s shoulders. I couldn’t believe I was going to do this, to take us into that torrent of magic.
But hopefully it was better than where we were.
I tugged Tully and Cinnamon forward and leapt with them through the field, shattering the magic barrier. The tag surged out hungrily. No time for fancy dances or subtle intents; I just lunged forward and screamed: “Web of space, take us to your heart!”
The whorl expanded. Its tentacles reached out-and pulled us inside.
The Truth Will Set You Free
Second time through, Streetscribe’s Happy Fun Ride was much more manageable. There was the initial shock as mana flashed against my skin, worse than before as this tag was more powerful and my skin had grown more sensitive. But I sloughed the pain off, and with it the buffeting of color and the torrent of wind screaming around us.
Even with training, I couldn’t help being jerked, twisted and buffeted: it was like riding a roller coaster in a hurricane. But I once rode the Mindbender at Six Flags Georgia five times in a row, and had been through this before. So when this kaleidoscope ride came to an end, I landed head up, boots down, with legs coiled for impact, and then straightened right up to standing.
Cinnamon and Tully fell into the water at my feet, their screams turning to spluttering as water splashed up into their lungs. I reached down and collared them both, hauling them to their feet. Tully looked fine, if a bit rattled, but Cinnamon was dry retching-I had forgotten about her motion sickness. While she struggled upright, I took stock.
We were in a dark stone tunnel, lit only by the magic of the tag behind us. It was a cruder version of the masterpiece we’d seen in the lich’s lair, and I realized there was a brief window when they could come after us-or that the tagger might have a secondary trap, like the one that took Revenance. The werekin were still stunned, but I was going to take no chances. “Move,” I said, and dragged them down the corridor away from the tag before anything happened.
When we were fifty yards away, it was so dark I pulled out my phone and powered it up, using the light to guide us into a small cubbyhole in the tunnel. I pulled Cinnamon and Tully inside and positioned myself at the edge, watching to see if anyone else came through the tag, or if any secondary tags had triggered. After a few moments, however, the glow of the tag died out.
“Whew,” I said.
“What,” Cinnamon said, gasping. “What the fuck? ”
“We’re in the Underground,” Tully said, staring up at the masonry. He was right: the tag had transported us somewhere into the vast network of ancient tunnels that crisscrossed the city. Legend had it that they dated back to the Civil War. From my time down here, however, I suspected they were actually far older. “How did we get into the Underground?”
“I was hoping you would tell me,” I said, “but in case the tagger didn’t fill you in on that part of his magic, the tags can act as magic doors.”
“I don’t knows the writer that did the tag,” Tully said.
“Whatever,” I said, dialing a number.
“What are you doing?” he said fearfully.
“Calling Vladimir,” I said. It buzzed several times, then picked up.
“Hello, Frost,” Vladimir said. “What the hell-”
“Sorry to keep you in the dark, but it was necessary,” I said. “I was afraid the lich and his buddies wouldn’t let us proceed if he knew what I planned.”
“You’ve got that right,” he said, “They’re demanding to know where you are.”
“Tell them we’re wherever the blood goes when a tag drains a vampire,” I said, glancing around the dank tunnel around me, flickering in my own light. “Tell him I think that’s somewhere in Underground Atlanta-and I don’t mean the tourist trap downtown.”
“I think he got that from context,” Vladimir said, laughing. “What are you doing there?”
“Exactly what I said we were going to do,” I said. “We’re taking the battle to the tagger.”
Vladimir was silent for a moment, then he relayed what I said. “Sir Leopold is asking how you plan to do that?”
“The doorway tags transport victims to traps,” I said, “but they’re not one-to-one. It’s more like a subway network. I used my magic to guide us to its heart. With any luck, there’s a central tag within a few hundred yards-and along with it, hopefully, the tagger.”
“So you really are taking the battle to him,” he said. “The lich is impressed.”
“Good. So tell him hands off the hostages, or when I get back I’ll be most irate.”
There was a squawking on the phone, and Vladimir laughed. “I think they heard you.”
“Vampire hearing, right,” I said. “Well, Lords and Ladies of the Gentry, next time you hear from me, I’ll either have dealt with the tagger-or will be calling the cavalry. Frost out.”
“Frost out?” Tully said. “Can’t you just say goodbye like a normal person?”
“Oh, come on, lighten up,” I said. “We’re deep underneath the city, about to go on a mission. All we need are walkie talkies and flashlights.”
“ We don’t needs either,” Cinnamon said.
“True enough, but I will,” I said. “Give me your iPod.”
“Why?” Cinnamon said, mirroring Tully’s fearful tone. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m not taking it to punish you. I’m going to use its light as a flashlight so I can turn off my phone. I don’t want Philip butting in and getting Darkrose killed,” I said, and she relaxed. “But, strictly speaking, you lied, Cinnamon. You have done something wrong.”
She just stared at me, eyes wide. “I-I’m sorry I ran away from the Palmottis-”
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about, Cinnamon,” I said, kneeling down so I could look her in the eye. “You need to come clean.”
Cinnamon looked at me in fear. “Wh-what about, Mom?”
“You can’t hide anything from me,” I said. “I know you’re the third tagger, honey.”