The second ability is more specialised and from my point of view much more valuable. A mist cloak hides its wearer from magical senses, turning them into a kind of black hole against magical detection. Very few other mages know that I have access to that particular trick and I work hard to keep it that way—I’ve done a few things which the Council would have nailed me to the wall for if I hadn’t been wearing my mist cloak at the time. Now I was counting on it yet again.
Looking into the future, there was good news and bad news. The good news was that the mist cloak was definitely doing something—the lines of my futures and the Nightstalkers’ didn’t automatically converge into combat anymore. The bad news was that combat was still possible, it just wasn’t certain. I looked to see what would happen if I left the room and went back the way I came, and saw that the Nightstalkers were already here and heading in my direction. There were only three this time: Lee, Dhruv, and Captain America. I held my position and waited. After only a couple of minutes I heard footsteps through the wall, trying to be quiet.
One of the simpler uses of divination magic is short-range spying; you can look ahead into the futures in which you move closer to a target in order to watch them. People are unpredictable, so they have to be only a few seconds away, but as long as the environment is static it works consistently enough. My house was silent and empty, and the futures in which I opened the door were easy to follow. All three of them were there, standing close to one another. None had visible weapons, which was interesting. I knew Captain America and Dhruv would only need a second to draw them, but I could do a lot in a second. It looked like I wasn’t the only one making mistakes.
“I can’t find him,” Lee said at last. In the ambient light from the windows he looked nervous. He was right to be.
“You’re sure he was here?” Dhruv asked.
“I think so,” Lee said, glancing around.
“Was he moving when you lost him, or did he just vanish?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, which spot did you lose him in?”
“I don’t know,” Lee said, sounding aggravated. “I keep telling you, I just know the direction. You didn’t give me time to triangulate.”
“He probably gated,” Captain America said. He had an American accent too, though I didn’t recognise what kind. He didn’t look as edgy as Lee but he did look alert.
“Diviners can’t use gate magic,” Dhruv said.
“Didn’t stop him before.”
“That was the Keeper,” Dhruv said. “And Lee said she wasn’t with him anymore. Right?”
“No . . .” Lee said reluctantly.
“So.”
“Why were we fighting her?” Lee said. “I thought you just wanted Verus.”
“Because she wouldn’t get out of the way.”
“We could have waited.”
“That was Will’s decision, not yours,” Dhruv said. “You want to take it up with him?”
Lee was silent, but Captain America spoke up again. “He’s got a point.” As he spoke he kept looking from side to side, watching each door in turn as he faced Dhruv. “And what the fuck was Ja-Ja doing?”
“It was the middle of a fight,” Dhruv said. But there had been a moment’s hesitation, and I could tell he wasn’t quite as sure of himself as he was acting.
“Yeah, and it was supposed to be against Verus,” Captain America said. He didn’t sound happy. “What, we’re killing everyone in our way now?”
“Ja-Ja didn’t obey orders,” Dhruv said.
“Ja-Ja’s a psycho.”
“He’s our big gun.”
“Which doesn’t change the fact that he’s a fucking psycho.” Captain America’s voice was hard. “He shouldn’t be on the team.”
“As long as we can point him in the right direction, he’s useful.”
“I’m not seeing that,” Captain America said. “Didn’t he just nearly murder a Keeper? Isn’t that a problem?”
“When did you get so picky?” Dhruv said in annoyance. “‘No problem that can’t be solved by high explosives,’ wasn’t that what you used to say? You didn’t argue about that bomb. And you, Lee. You think the Keepers would have gotten you away from Locus? You’re here because of Will. Don’t forget that.”
Both Lee and Captain America were silent. “Look, we’ll talk about it back at base,” Dhruv said. “Let’s check this floor and get out of here. Have you tried all the rooms?”
“Those two,” Captain America said. “This one’s locked.”
“Lee?” Dhruv said. “Anyone on the other side?”
There was a pause and I tensed. “No,” Lee said at last.
“Can you get it open?” Dhruv asked Captain America.
Captain America hesitated and I held very still. I’d deliberately left the wards on the safe room down. They could have held the Nightstalkers out for a while, but they would have as good as told them that there was something in here to find. It would have taken them a while to break through, but I had no doubt they could do it eventually and once inside they couldn’t fail to find me.
But right now they weren’t expecting to find me, or they never would have had that conversation where I could hear them. For once I had the advantage of surprise, and I was done screwing around. My knife was hidden beneath the cloak, and if they forced their way through into this room I was going to kill them, simple as that. I’d promised Anne that I wouldn’t, and back when I’d said that I’d meant it, but I’d rather break a promise than die and that was what it was going to come down to at this rate. I’d take Dhruv or Captain America from ambush, then I’d bring up the wards to split the remaining two, kill whoever was on the same side as me, then run. Will would be on my trail in seconds and the chase would be brutal and ugly, but I’d been pushed as far as I was willing to go. I watched the futures flicker before me, Captain America making the decision, and wondered if he had any idea how close he and his friends were to death right now.
“No,” Captain America said at last. “Not without the cops hearing.”
“Fine, it looks sealed anyway. Let’s go.” Their footsteps started up again, trailing down the hall and then up the stairs. And then they were gone.
I waited for a long time, listening and looking ahead, but in both present and future the building was silent. I’d shaken the Nightstalkers. Now I had to figure out what to do next.
I stayed in that room for the rest of the day.
My mist cloak could hide me from Lee, but it’s not the best fashion choice for walking outside in broad daylight and while I waited for the long summer evening to end I called Luna. The phone rang for a while before picking up. “Hello?” Luna asked.
“It’s Alex. You guys okay?”
“Alex!” I could hear the relief in Luna’s voice. “We’re fine. Where are you?”
“You first. Did you sort things out with the police?”
“Uh, more or less,” Luna said. “They kind of want to talk to you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk to them.” I could probably convince the police that the explosion hadn’t been my fault—which was the truth, ironically enough—but I absolutely couldn’t afford the distraction. “What did you tell them?”
“There wasn’t much we could tell them. The house blew up and you and Anne were on the wrong side, then all of a sudden they came up the stairs and it was me and Vari holding the landing. I thought they were going to swarm us then all of a sudden they were gone, I guess they were chasing—” I heard a voice in the background and Luna’s voice suddenly became muffled, as though she were talking to someone else. “Yeah, it’s him . . . I don’t know, how am I supposed—Fine, I’ll ask, just shut up.” Her voice became clear again. “Vari wants to know what happened at the mansion.”