“Maybe a hospital . . .” Variam started to say, then trailed off. The Crusaders had contacts with the Keepers, the Keepers had contacts with the emergency services, and if we brought Anne into an emergency room, then they’d know within an hour.
But it made me realise what we had to do. “Not a hospital,” I said. “Somewhere safe.”
“The Hollow,” Luna said instantly.
“If we carry . . .” I started to say, then stopped as I realised what that would mean. First we’d have to untangle Anne from the net of wires and hooks sunk into her skin . . . and then what? I imagined picking her up and had a horrific vision of her screaming and thrashing and crashing to the floor.
“Carry the table,” Variam said. “I’ll burn the legs off if we have to. Luna opens a gate, we get it through.”
I turned to Luna. “The gate wards on the house must have a keystone. Hurry.”
| | | | | | | | |
I don’t remember much of the rest of that visit. I remember that Luna managed to disable the wards, and I think Variam did manage to sort out the table, but I don’t recall him doing it. The sight of Anne’s mutilated body made everything else hazy. I remember talking to her, telling her that we were here, that she was going to be okay, but she didn’t speak and I couldn’t tell if she heard.
But it worked. Luna got a gate open to the Hollow and managed to hold it open long enough for Variam to lift the tabletop and carry it through. I remember being terrified that we’d drop it, but we didn’t, and Luna followed us through to leave us alone in the Hollow, the three of us standing over Anne’s body while the night sky of the shadow realm glowed above.
Variam and I stayed to watch over Anne and we cut away the wires and hooks, one by one. It took a long time, and Anne didn’t flinch or wince, but we did. Meanwhile, Luna went to find Arachne, and Arachne came. She doesn’t like to leave her lair, but she has her ways out in case of emergency, and this was an emergency. Arachne looked over Anne and worked what magic she could, but she warned us that Anne had been so badly maimed that any attempt to cure her would likely make things worse. We’d taken out the foreign objects and now Anne’s body was working to heal itself, and the best thing we could do for her was guard her and make sure she was undisturbed. So we did.
It was a long night.
| | | | | | | | |
It was some time in the early hours of the morning. We had tents set up, but they were small three- and four-person affairs, and none of us had wanted to try moving Anne inside one or setting it up around her. In the end, we’d just set up windbreaks, and taken turns keeping watch. It was my shift and I was lying half awake, dozing. Above, the stars were shining, brilliant and bright. The Hollow’s sunset and sunrise matches its mirror in England, but for some reason, instead of the stars of Earth, the view you see when you look up is some impossible sky out of a fairy tale, clusters of blue and purple and red glowing from between multicoloured nebulae. I could just hear the sound of Anne’s breathing, and listening to it kept me on edge. I think at some level I was afraid that if I didn’t keep listening to it, then it might stop.
When I heard my name, I thought at first it was just another dream. I’d been drifting in and out of them, imagining that Anne would wake up and talk to me, and I kept waiting for it to fade, then I realised that I’d opened my eyes and I was looking up at the stars and I heard Anne’s voice again.
I sat bolt upright. “I’m here. Can you hear me?”
I heard Anne take a laboured breath. “Yes.”
I scrambled to Anne’s side. In the starlight, she was only a shape in the darkness, but my divination told me she was there and moving. “Don’t move. You were hurt, badly. We’ve taken you to the Hollow and you’re safe, but you have to stay where you are. Okay?”
“I know.”
“What do you need?”
Another breath. “Water.”
I helped Anne drink. She couldn’t hold the bottle, but we’d brought straws. “What else?” I said when she was done.
“Time.”
I hesitated. It was a stupid question, but I needed to ask. “Are you okay?”
Anne was silent for a second. “No.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I’m not going to die,” Anne said. Her voice was a little stronger, but it still sounded as though it was an effort for her to talk. “But . . . no. I’m not.”
“Which one of them was it?” I said quietly.
“The white one,” Anne said. “Zilean.” She paused, and when she spoke again her voice was empty. “They wanted to know about Morden’s plans. I kept telling them I didn’t know. They didn’t listen . . .”
I felt a wash of emotions go through me—sorrow and pain and guilt, but mostly rage. I wanted to see someone dead for this. My list of enemies was already too long, but Zilean had just made it to the top. I took long, steady breaths until I could speak calmly again. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Stay and talk,” Anne said. She was sounding drowsy now. “Have to sleep. But . . . be nice to hear your voice. Just for a little while . . .”
“Talk to you about what?”
“Anything,” Anne said sleepily.
“Anything? Well . . . okay. I never did tell you about how I met Luna, did I?” I settled back slightly on the mat. “It would have been about five years ago. I was in my shop, same as I usually was, and I remember hearing the bell go as someone walked in. I didn’t really notice her until she came up to the counter . . .”
The stars glowed down from above.
| | | | | | | | |
It was two days before Anne was well enough to get up and walk around, and two more before she was strong enough to work a gate stone to leave the Hollow. Not long by medical standards, but it was the longest I’d ever seen Anne out of action, and I kept a close eye on her. Physically she was back to perfect health in less than a week, but she was quieter, more withdrawn. I was worried about her, but when I tried probing, Anne made it clear that she didn’t want to talk.
I tried to get Lightbringer and Zilean indicted for breaking the Concord. Anne was officially a mage now, after all, and that meant she had the same rights as any other Light mage . . . in theory. An investigation was started, but I wasn’t surprised when it began to drag. What really made me flip my lid was the news Rain gave me afterwards.
“They’re doing what?” I nearly shouted.
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Rain said. I’d come into Keeper HQ, and we were in my office. A little paper had accumulated on the desk since the spring, but not much. “It’s still at preliminaries.”
“They’re investigating Anne for running that clinic?”
“According to the records, it wasn’t authorised . . .”
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” I said. “Lightbringer and Zilean just literally flayed Anne alive and as far as I can tell, the investigation team’s response has been to have one interview and then let the two of them go. But they’re willing to prosecute Anne for fucking healing people for free?”
“They’re not connected, Verus.” Rain looked weary, but I was too angry to care. “One is the Order of the Star; the other is the regulatory staff at—”
“Jesus Christ.” I stalked to the window and stared down over the street. Right at that moment, if Morden had given me the opportunity to burn the whole Council, I’d have said yes. Why was I working for these people?
“I might have a different job for you,” Rain said.