“Get out of my way,” I rasped. Anne was on the other side of that door and getting farther away.
“Or you’ll do what?” Rachel said. “You still don’t get it, do you? Richard doesn’t need you anymore. You don’t get to call the shots.” Rachel paused. “He’s going to enslave her, by the way. Use that focus of his and Crystal’s spells to bring the jinn under his control completely. Once that happens, you can say bye-bye to your girlfriend. She’s not coming back.” Rachel extended a hand. “Unless you want to try to stop him?”
I looked at what Rachel was holding in her open palm. It was my dreamstone.
Rachel was watching me closely. “This is yours, right? I took it off those Council idiots. It’s supposed to be a mind magic focus, isn’t it? Maybe if you had it, you might be able to do something. What do you think?”
I looked at Rachel, and even through the pain, I realised what she was doing. She wanted me to try to go through her, to start a fight. Richard hadn’t given her the go-ahead to kill me, and she was hoping I’d give her an excuse.
But she didn’t know what the dreamstone could do, and she didn’t know that I could use it without touching it. I could reach out to Anne, talk to her, and—
—what? Despair filled me as I realised how useless it would be. Arachne had told me that I could use the dreamstone to step into Elsewhere, but I couldn’t manage that now, not injured with Rachel ready to disintegrate me the instant I moved.
Maybe if I weren’t so beaten down, I would have tried to do something myself. But instead I reached out through the dreamstone and screamed for help, for someone, anyone, to listen and to come. It was fuelled with all my desperation and pain, and I felt barriers shatter as I threw everything I had into the call.
Rachel flinched, catching herself instantly. “What did you—?” She glanced down at the dreamstone, then back at me in sudden suspicion.
I was swaying. The combination of Crystal’s mental assault, Vihaela’s spell, and the drain from that call had left me barely able to hold myself upright. Seconds ticked away. Rachel stared at me, and I saw my life and death balanced in her eyes.
There was a bang from somewhere below and Rachel spun. Before she’d even finished turning, something flowed under the door and coalesced in the centre of the room. It was a humanoid figure sculpted out of transparent air, like an artist’s sketch drawn in vapour. To normal vision she was invisible; to my magesight she took the form of an elfin girl with slightly pointed ears and big eyes.
She was an air elemental, one that I hadn’t seen in almost six years, and her name was Starbreeze.
“Hi, Alex!” Starbreeze told me.
Rachel looked at Starbreeze in recognition. “You?” She brought up a hand, green light gathering.
Rachel is fast. Starbreeze is much faster. By the time Rachel had finished saying you, Starbreeze had enveloped me and turned me and my body to air. She started towards the door, turned around, reached out to touch the dreamstone in Rachel’s hand, turned that to air as well, then as Rachel’s hand came up, Starbreeze shot out back under the door and out into the corridor, taking me and the dreamstone with her. Ooh, you got one of those? Starbreeze asked. They’re fun!
Starbreeze, help! I need to find Anne!
Who’s Anne?
There was a pulse of water magic, and the door disintegrated in a green flash. Ooh, Starbreeze said in interest. Pretty. Rachel appeared in the doorway, eyes locking onto us, and Starbreeze whisked away around the corner and down a flight of steps.
She’s my friend, she’s somewhere here. Please, can you find her?
Your hand’s wrong, Starbreeze said in interest.
Please, you have to help. I could feel the seconds slipping away and I was desperate. She’s been taken over by a jinn—
Starbreeze fled, zipping down the staircase and several corridors. I saw a mage flash past, eyes wide in surprise, there and gone. No, wait! You need to find her—
Jinn are bad, Starbreeze said decisively.
But you could reach her!
Mmmmmm . . . I felt Starbreeze shake her head. No.
From above I could hear shouts and the sound of an alarm. Starbreeze! I shouted. Please!
You’re hurt, Starbreeze said curiously. Home?
What?
Home.
Starbreeze zoomed off down the main hallway. I had an instant to see a double door approaching at terrifying speed before we hit a barrier.
It felt like being thrown through a jet engine and out the other side. Everything went white and I was falling through space.
chapter 8
I slept for a long time. I drifted between dreams and nightmares, filled with confusion and flight and danger, but they never became clear enough for me to become conscious. From time to time I would start to swim up towards wakefulness, and each time I would resist. I couldn’t remember much, but I knew I didn’t want to wake up. At last I couldn’t stay asleep anymore and slowly, reluctantly, I returned to the waking world.
You know things are bad when waking up feels worse than the nightmares. My memory came back piece by piece, and each bit made me want to run and hide. When I finally opened my eyes, I found myself staring up at the ceiling of my house in the Hollow. Birds were singing, and it was daytime outside. It was the same place I’d woken up . . .
. . . Jesus. Yesterday morning? Was that all it had been?
There was a rustle of movement and I turned my head to see Luna rising from a chair. Her clothes were rumpled as though from a long night, but her eyes showed no signs of sleepiness. “You’re awake? Stay there. Don’t get up.”
I tried to get up. I made it about six inches before collapsing.
“I said don’t get up.” Luna crossed the floor quickly, kneeling beside me. “You were in really bad shape when I found you.”
“How—?” My voice was weak, and I had to draw a breath and try harder. “How long have I been out?”
“It’s Wednesday noon. You’ve slept a little over twelve hours.”
It was still hard to take in. “You found me?”
Luna nodded. “I can tell you the story, but you want anything to drink or eat? Klara said you’d be hungry.”
I was hungry, but the thought of eating made me sick. I felt terrible; my muscles were like water, and my right hand was numb. “Tell me what happened.”
“I’d closed up at the shop.” Luna’s face looked drawn and troubled. “Vari and I were supposed to be meeting, but I’d been waiting for—Well, it doesn’t matter. Two Keepers came calling, they wanted to know if I’d seen you or Anne. One of them I didn’t know, but I recognised the other, nasty piece of work called Saffron. She just kept staring while the man was questioning me, and I could feel this weird pricking, like she was looking inside me. I remembered you’d said she was a mind mage, and I figured she was reading my thoughts. So I told the truth, and when they asked when I’d last seen you both, I told them it had been a couple of days. I guess she could tell I wasn’t lying because they let me go, though they warned me to call them if I saw you again.