Unless I did what Arachne had told me I needed to do. Become a greater power. My eyes fell on a line from the next paragraph: . . . the plan you have considered so long . . . You are as prepared as you will ever be.
The plan she was talking about was the one the dragon had told me, two years ago. There are many paths, but only one that will enable you to reach your fullest potentiaclass="underline" that which you already wielded and abandoned. I knew what that meant.
I also knew what the price would be.
I walked to my desk and sat on the chair. Through the window, I could see the trees of the Hollow, leaves blowing gently in the breeze, the sound of birdsong drifting down from above. I rested my chin in my one good hand and looked out the window.
I sat like that for a long time.
It was maybe an hour later that I felt a gate flash. Running footsteps sounded from out in the clearing, growing swiftly louder. They raced up to my cottage and the door banged open.
Variam stormed in. “You arsehole!” he shouted at me.
I blinked, turned with an effort. Variam was standing in the doorway, glaring down at me. “Sorry,” I managed to say.
“You knew all this time?” Variam demanded. “And you didn’t tell us? Either of us?”
I just nodded. Variam’s face darkened, and I saw violence flicker in the futures. I wondered if Variam would punch me. It was an academic sort of curiosity; if he did, I wasn’t going to stop him.
But with an effort Variam steadied himself. “Why?”
“At first, I just didn’t want you getting killed,” I said. “Later? Because I was afraid.”
Variam stared down at me, then strangely, I saw the anger fade from his face. “Yeah,” he said. “Well. That came back to bite you hard enough, didn’t it?” He turned away. “I guess we both fucked up.”
“You tried to warn me, didn’t you?” I said. “You knew something like this could happen.”
“Yeah,” Variam said. “I stopped talking about it because I thought—oh, I don’t know. That if you trusted her and believed in her, then somehow it would all work out. Stupid Disney shit. I didn’t think it was going to be like this.”
“Luna told you the story?”
Variam pulled out a chair and sat down. “Yeah.”
“The Council let you go?”
“Barely,” Variam said. “I can’t stay long, they’re going to be watching me a lot more closely now. You know I had trouble at the start with the hard-liners. Gave me shit for my connections with you and Anne. That got better once you got on the Council and Anne was your aide. Now, though . . .”
Looking at Variam, it suddenly occurred to me that he hadn’t suggested that he would have to cut ties with me. In fact, I was pretty sure that it hadn’t even occurred to him. Just by talking to me like this, he was committing a crime, yet that didn’t seem to concern him at all. “You really are loyal, aren’t you?” I said with a fleeting smile. “I guess that’s what Luna saw.”
Variam gave me a suspicious look. “What’s that supposed to mean? Never mind. What should we do?”
“Can you give me an honest answer to something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you think I’m too nice?”
Variam raised his eyebrows. “You really think this is the time?”
“I know it sounds strange,” I said. “But I need to make some decisions.”
Variam shook his head. “Fine. Short answer is yes. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re tough, but you’re also sort of . . . hesitant, I guess? Like what happened with the Nightstalkers. Most of the Council, all they saw was that you fought them and won. But the way I see it, you only did that after they’d tried to kill you about five times running. It was the same when we took the Hollow.”
“You think I’m naive?”
“More like passive,” Variam said. “It’s like you always have to give the other guy the first shot, you know? Until they do, you just talk at them and try to make friends.” Variam hesitated. “Then again, if you hadn’t been like that, you probably wouldn’t have taken us in. I mean, now that I think about it, I know we must have looked sketchy as hell. Anne had bad news written all over her, and I was kind of a dick. So . . . I dunno. I guess being the way you are has its good sides too.”
I nodded.
“So are you going to tell me what’s up?” Variam asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“I’ve been trying to hold on to a lot of different things,” I said. “I’m not sure I can do that anymore.”
Variam frowned. “Well . . . okay.” He glanced at his phone and rose. “I’d better go. They’re going to put me on hunting duty. Probably after you.”
I nodded.
Variam paused in the doorway. “Sorry about how things worked out.” Then he was gone.
The Hollow felt lonely. I took a walk around the woods, listening to the birds sing in the trees. I figured I had maybe a day or two until the Council tracked me here.
Along the way, I worked out what I was going to do. Once I’d made the decision, the plan more or less formed itself. I knew which item I needed, and I knew where I could find it. To get inside, I’d need help, and to find the person who could give me that help, I’d need someone else. Once I’d figured out how to contact her, I gated out of the Hollow to one of our staging points and dialled a number into a burner phone.
The phone rang twice and was answered. A woman’s voice spoke. “Hello?”
“Hello, Chalice,” I said. “You recognise my voice?”
Chalice is a Dark chance mage who for a while had been Luna’s teacher. She’s not affiliated with the Council, but she lives in their neighbourhood, and by calling her like this I was running a risk. By answering, so was she. When Chalice spoke again, it was with a note of caution. “Yes.”
“I’m guessing you’ve heard the news.”
“I have.”
“A few years ago, you spoke to me about an alliance,” I said. “Do you still feel that way?”
“That is . . . a dangerous question. You are not a safe person to be speaking to right now.”
“I know. So?”
There was a moment’s silence. “What do you want?”
“Information,” I said. “Specifically, the location of two people. You shouldn’t be at risk.”
“If the wrong people find out, I will very definitely be at risk.”
“Back in that café, you told me that you wanted to limit a certain person’s power,” I said. “Right now, I’m the best positioned to stop him. If you still feel the same, now’s the time to show it. If not, it’s best we go our separate ways.”
There was a long silence. I felt the futures dance, shifting. “How can I contact you?” Chalice asked at last.
“This phone is active for another thirty minutes.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I hung up and waited. Chalice got back to me with seven minutes to spare.
“Your first person of interest is still active as of recently,” Chalice said without preamble. “I can give you a contact number. Possibly more, but that will take time. Be aware that he, like you, is currently not in the best of positions. Apparently he’s had a falling-out with his partner and with her master. The second person has left the country and is in hiding. I should have a more precise location in a day or two.”
“Understood.”
Chalice paused. “I don’t know if you’re telling the truth about what you’ll be able to do. But if you are . . . please do your best. I’m hearing of movements from our mutual adversary that suggest he’s gearing up for something. I don’t think you have much time.”