Variam studied the map. “Two doors?”
“The second one’s sealed.”
“So the only way in and out’s that corridor.” Variam traced it on the map. “And that leads to this junction . . .”
“Yeah,” I said. “You can see the problem.”
“You mean getting boxed in?” Luna asked.
“Once the gateway is open, we’ll have our exit,” I said. “Until then, no way out.”
“Chances we can get in without them noticing?” Variam asked.
“Kyle says he knows a hidden passage that’ll take us to the kitchens, and from what I can see it checks out,” I said. “We should be able to reach the storeroom easily enough. But Luna needs to use her cube to activate the gate, and once she does, it’s going to put out a magical signature like a fire alarm.”
Variam glanced at Luna. “Sure it’ll work?”
“Worked fine last time,” Luna said. “If I were you, I’d worry less about that and more about what Onyx’s gang are going to be doing.”
“Last time we did this, the gate took a few minutes to open,” I said. “We’re going to have to hold the area until it does.”
Variam studied the map. “That corridor’ll screw them if they rush us.”
“The normals and the adepts, sure. Pyre and Onyx are another story.”
“They both going to be home?”
“They were last I checked,” I said. “Plan is to maintain surveillance on the mansion throughout the evening. Soon as we see one of them leave, we go in. If we’re lucky, they both will.”
“And if we’re not, they’ll both be home,” Luna said. “I’ve got a question. How are we going to get out?”
“Plan A is the bubble realm,” I said. “It has a one-way exit system. Doesn’t have to be back to the relic either. If everything goes perfectly, we’ll show up a hundred miles away while Onyx and Pyre are still waiting for us to come back out.”
“What’s Plan B?” Luna asked.
“Starbreeze is going to be on station. If someone gets hurt or we need an evac, she can swoop in, pick them up, and GTFO.”
“Oh yeah,” Variam said, glancing out the window. “I still can’t believe you’re friends with an air elemental. How’d that happen?”
“I’ll tell you the story afterwards.”
“About that,” Luna said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see Starbreeze again. But she’s not exactly super reliable. Does she even know what ‘on station’ means?”
“Sort of,” I said. I’d had to explain it to her.
“And if she decides to go chase some butterfly to the Outer Hebrides?”
“I’ve told her that it’s important,” I said. “Really important. And bribed her and told her again it’s important. But yeah, there’s a reason she’s Plan B.”
“I thought elementals were super powerful?” Variam asked.
“It’s her attention span I’m worried about,” Luna said.
“Once we’re inside the bubble realm, things should get easier,” I said. “There are traps and defence systems, but I remember most of them from last time. I should be able to guide us through to the relic without any trouble.”
“Yeah, until you actually pick it up.”
“You sure about this Kyle guy?” Variam asked. “He’s switched sides once before, right? What’s to stop him doing it again?”
“He’s got a personal stake in this,” I said. “Besides, he’s not stupid enough to try selling us out to Onyx.”
“He’d better not.” Variam glanced at his watch. “I should check in.”
Luna watched Variam go, then turned back to me. “Are you sure about this?”
“I know it’s not the safest of plans,” I said. “But I’ve been thinking hard and this is the best I can come up with.”
Luna was right to be dubious. As far as plans went, calling this one “not the safest” was a major understatement. It wasn’t that any of the steps were unrealistic on their own—we’d done things that were harder in isolation—but there was very little margin for error. If something went wrong, then the four of us would be stranded in hostile territory with enemies closing in all around. We had our magic to fall back on, but the people in that mansion could do magic too, and there were a lot more of them than there were of us.
“It’s not that,” Luna said. “It’s what happens afterwards. Last time you tried using that relic, it didn’t work out so well, remember?”
The last time I’d picked up the relic, its current resident, a two-thousand-year-old mind mage named Abithriax, had tried to possess me and walk out in my body. He’d come pretty close to succeeding. “Just as well I had you and Starbreeze.”
“So what’s to stop him mind-controlling you again the instant you touch it?”
“For one thing, my mental defences are a lot better,” I said. “For another, I’ve got the dreamstone.”
Luna shook her head. “You just got away from one mind mage. Wouldn’t have thought you’d be so eager to go head-to-head with another.”
“There isn’t any other choice,” I said quietly. “My old life’s gone.”
“But—”
Movement in the futures caught my attention and I looked up sharply. “What’s wrong?” Luna asked.
“Trouble.”
We walked out into the clearing and met Variam coming the other way. “We’ve got trouble,” Variam confirmed. “I just heard from Landis. Council are sending a force, and he thinks you’ve got one, maybe two hours before they track you down.”
Damn it. “I’m going to path-walk.” I said. “Stay here.”
I walked off alone, and once I was isolated, looked to see what would happen if we stayed here. It took me less than a minute.
“Tell Landis his guess was right on the money,” I said, walking back to Variam and Luna. “We’ve got two hours at the outside before the Hollow’s under siege.”
“Can we hold them off?” Luna asked.
“Doesn’t matter. Once they bottle us up, we’re finished.”
“They know you’re here?” Variam asked.
“Not yet,” I said. “From the looks of the futures, I think they’re using divination. Auguries and probabilistic readings. The time is what it’ll take them to narrow it down.”
“I might be able to stall them . . .” Variam began.
I shook my head. “You and Luna have to get out of here.”
“What about you?” Luna asked.
“I’m going to be playing cat and mouse.”
“On your own? At least let me come with—”
“No,” I said. “We can’t let them link the two of you with me. Right now, they might be suspicious, but they haven’t got solid grounds to actually arrest you, and we are not going to give them any. You guys go to Onyx’s mansion and link up with Kyle. We’ll do the raid tonight.”
“While you do what?” Luna asked. “Be a human shield?”
“While I lead them on a chase,” I said. I smiled slightly. “Relax. The Keepers aren’t going to be expecting Starbreeze.”
“Just don’t play games, okay?” Variam said. “You didn’t see the mood in Keeper HQ. They really want to catch you.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t think I’m going to be playing any more games for a long time.” I glanced at my watch. “Let’s move.”
It was seven hours later.
Sweat trickled down my back as I leant against the wall of the service room. Brooms and mops were piled in the corner, and the far wall held a garbage disposal. My heart was thumping from the last round of sprints; now I was doing my best to stay silent and still. The weather in London had been hot; here in New York, it was sweltering.
I should have listened to Vari, I thought. When he said they wanted me, he wasn’t kidding.