“Because there’s a bunch of people coming here to kill me, and they’re going to do it unless we get out of here right now!”
Sonder’s eyes widened. “Wait, it’s—?”
“Yes!”
“How do—?” Caldera started to ask.
“Because I’ve seen them!” I was frantically mapping out escape routes and it didn’t look good. They were directly between us and the front entrance—they must have come in the same way we did—and they were closing in fast. We’d have to get around them or go over.
Caldera frowned at me. “Why do they want to kill you?”
“Because of something I did ten years ago—I’ll tell you the story, but not here!”
“Wait,” Caldera said. “I’m not moving unless you tell me more than that.”
I wanted to scream. “Are you trying to get us—”
I’d been searching as fast as I could through the futures and in that instant I realised two things. First, using the annuller hadn’t worked. In all of the futures in which I shifted my position, the path of the incoming group adjusted to match me. They knew exactly where I was and trying to hide wasn’t going to help. Second, they were moving faster than we were. Even if I could get Caldera and Sonder moving, they would be on us before we could get out of the mansion. “Too late,” I said, looking down the corridor. A moment later Will appeared around the corner.
Chapter 9
The Nightstalkers had come out in force this time, and they just kept coming around the corner one after another. Will was at the front with Lee and Dhruv flanking him, gold-hair girl and Captain America were right behind with Ja-Ja the life-drinker, and at the back, almost hidden by the others, was a girl I hadn’t seen before who looked English. Seven in all. They advanced down the corridor towards us.
Caldera stepped between me and them. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Will came to a halt and the rest of them followed his lead. He didn’t look at Caldera; just like each time before, his eyes stayed locked on me. “I’m not here for you.”
“You’re William Traviss, aren’t you?” Caldera said. “Mind telling me what you’re doing on a mage’s property?”
“I don’t care whose property this is.” Will shifted his stare to Caldera. “The man behind you murdered my sister and I’m here for him. Get out of my way.”
Caldera looked back at him, then turned her head just slightly towards me, not taking her eyes off Will. “Verus?” she said, and there was a slight edge to her voice. “Anything you want to tell me?”
I let out a breath. The futures were shifting too much to make any useful predictions now. It was all going to depend on Caldera, and I couldn’t tell which way she would jump. “When I was Richard’s apprentice, I was part of a team that captured Will’s sister,” I said. I kept my voice level. “Will thinks she was killed. I don’t know if it’s true.”
“Liar!” Will snarled, his eyes flaring. “You knew what was happening to her!”
I looked away, unwilling to meet Will’s eyes. “You think I didn’t know?” Will said, and I could hear the hate in his voice. “A year she was held in here. So you sick fucks could use her for fun!”
“And that was why I tried to break her out!” I snapped back. “Yes, I screwed it up, but at least I tried!”
“Right,” Will said scornfully. “You were trying to save her.”
“Whether you believe it or not, it’s the truth. And how are you so damn sure she’s dead? Even I don’t know what happened to her!”
“She died here in this mansion,” Will said. “And I’m going to make sure the same happens to you.”
“We just did this! You were in a train crash twelve hours ago! How are you even here?”
“Enough!” Caldera shouted.
Will and I both stopped. “You,” Caldera said, pointing at Lee. “How did you get in here?”
“Uh . . .”
“Through the door, or through the archway in the wall?”
“None of your business,” Will said, just as Lee said, “The archway.”
Will glared at Lee and Lee dropped his eyes. “At least you’ve got some sense,” Caldera said. “Now let’s see if I’ve got this straight. Are you telling me the reason you’ve come here is to murder the mage behind me?”
“He’s the murderer!” Will said.
“And I’m Keeper Caldera of the Order of the Star,” Caldera said calmly. “That means I police crimes involving mages. Are you about to commit one?”
“The only crimes you Keepers care about are the ones where it’s mages that are the victims,” Will said. He was focused on Caldera now, eyes narrowed, and he wasn’t backing down. “Murdering an adept doesn’t even count in your book, does it? We’re nothing to you.”
“The law is the law,” Caldera said. “And it applies to adepts as well as mages. You might want to think about that.”
The rest of Will’s group had been silent until now, but at this point gold-hair girl spoke up. “So what are we supposed to do when some mage decides to enslave us?” She looked angry. “Just take it?”
“You can bring your case before the Council,” Caldera said. “Your petition will be heard.”
“Right,” gold-hair girl said sarcastically. “And they’re going to care.”
“I don’t make the laws,” Caldera said. “But I do enforce them.” Her voice sharpened. “Now let’s get something clear: this is not up for debate. I’m here on Council business and you’re trespassing. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“You’re right,” Will said, and his voice was soft. His eyes were fixed on Caldera. “It’s not up for debate.”
I felt the mood in the corridor shift, and the futures shifted with it. All of a sudden I could sense violence. “Walk away, William,” Caldera said quietly.
“I walked away from Verus yesterday,” Will said. “Not this time.” He held out his hand to Captain America without looking. I saw Captain America’s eyes flick between Caldera and me and he hesitated for just an instant, then he reached into thin air. Space magic flickered as he pulled out Will’s shortsword and handed it to him then took out a submachine gun for himself. Gold-hair girl’s eyes narrowed on Caldera and I felt the familiar trace of fire magic beginning to build.
“One more step forward,” Caldera said, “and you’ll be attacking a Council Keeper.” Caldera was standing in the middle of the corridor facing all of them, her voice steady. “All of you listen to me very carefully. You might think you’re fighting some sort of war against mages. You’re not. The Council knows all about you and they’ve left you alone. Use those weapons in your hands and that will change. And you will not like the consequences.”
“The Council isn’t here,” Will said. He was standing quite still and I knew he was holding his magic ready. When he moved, it would be very fast. “Just you.”
“And me,” I said, stepping forward and looking between the adepts. “If you keep following Will, it’s going to get you killed. Don’t you see that?”
“Stay out of this, Verus,” Caldera said.
I didn’t look away from Will. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve kind of got a stake in this.”
“Ignore the Keeper and the other one,” Will said over his shoulder. “We’re only here for Verus.”
“That’s not how it works,” Caldera said sharply. “If you—”
“Look out!” I snapped and jumped back just as Will lunged for me.
I’d seen Will in action enough times now to figure out that in terms of straight-up combat ability, his magic was a close match for mine. I could predict his moves, but he was so quick that all my divination let me do was keep up with him. He closed the distance between us in a flash, and if I hadn’t already jumped back he would have run me through.
But while Will might be faster, Caldera had a lot less distance to cover than he did. She stepped into his way and Will slammed straight into her centre of mass with a thud. Caldera didn’t even budge; it was as if Will had run into a wall. She tried to grab him, but even though Will had to be hurting from the impact he was still fast enough to dodge aside and try to get past again.