Variam pointed. “I think your Plan B is trying to set herself on fire.”
I turned. Starbreeze was swiping her finger through Variam’s light spell with apparent fascination, the air of her body making the flame flicker.
“Starbreeze?” I said. “Starbreeze.”
“Hmm?”
“We’re going into a bubble realm,” I said. “Luna, show her the cube.”
Luna took out a cube of deep red crystal. Points of light sparkled from deep within as it caught the reflections of Variam’s flame and threw them back. “Ooh,” Starbreeze said in fascination. She floated over, studying the cube with her chin in her hands.
“It’s the same one we used all those years ago,” I said. “You recognise it?”
“Hmm . . .” Starbreeze said, then shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the cube. “No.”
“Okay, you remember that bubble realm we went to back then?”
“No.”
“It was the one with the fateweaver. You remember the fateweaver?”
“No.”
“I nearly got possessed and you and Luna saved me. Do you remember that?”
“No,” Starbreeze said cheerfully. “What are we doing again?”
Luna covered her eyes. “Oh God.”
“This is our Plan B?” Variam asked.
I ignored Variam. “We’re about to go into the house over there. Once we do, we’ll need you to stay ready in case we call. If we call, we’ll need you to get us out. Okay?”
Starbreeze stared into the cube.
“Starbreeze!”
“Hmm?” Starbreeze looked up. “Were you talking?”
“We’re so screwed,” Luna said.
“If this is how you guys run your ops,” Kyle said, “I’m starting to seriously wonder how you’re still alive.”
I gave up. Starbreeze would come when I needed her, or she wouldn’t. “Let’s go. Kyle, you’re on point.”
We approached the mansion under the cover of darkness. Lit windows cast a scattering of light down over the grounds, bright rectangles against the black. It was past midnight and there were many more darkened windows than lit ones, but it only took one to raise the alarm. Kyle led us to an outbuilding near the mansion’s west corner. It was too dark to see our footing; my divination showed me where to step, but the others were less quiet and I tensed at every crack and rustle.
The door to the outbuilding creaked as Kyle eased it open. How many people know this route? I asked him through the dreamstone.
I felt Kyle start. It’s freaky when you do that.
Quieter than a radio.
Kyle recovered himself. His thoughts had a distinct feel to them, organised and focused. They reminded me of Variam’s, but with an undercurrent of anger, banked and smouldering. A few of them know. Not many.
The inside of the building was cramped, filled with rusting garden tools. Metal clanked softly as Kyle cleared a path, then there was the scrape of another opening door. There was a click and a dim glow as Kyle switched on a torch; by its light I saw him start down a flight of steps into darkness. Futures of a brighter glow sprang up, and I reached out through the dreamstone. Don’t use a light spell, Vari.
I don’t know how much I trust this guy, Variam said.
And I don’t want to risk Pyre picking up your light with his magesight and wondering what another fire mage is doing in the building.
Fine.
The stairs went down twenty feet or so. Variam pulled the door closed behind us; silence closed in, broken only by our footsteps. The door ended at another door that Kyle listened at before easing open.
The door opened into a basement, cluttered with junk. The beam of Kyle’s torch passed over furniture, boxes, old weapons, and machinery. I could feel traces of magic from around us. This stuff had probably been Morden’s, left to gather dust once Onyx took over. Distant voices drifted down and Kyle picked up the pace, a new eagerness in his movements. A stairwell at the end of the basement led upwards; Kyle went up the stairs two at a time and came to a stop at the top, against a closed door. As I followed him, I saw that he had one ear pressed against the wood, listening closely. Carefully I moved up behind him and did the same.
The voices from the other side had gone quiet, but by looking into the futures, I could tell that there were two people, both female. As I listened, I heard the soft fwump of a gas stove, followed by the steady hiss of the flame. A cupboard opened and plates clinked.
The door was locked. How’d you get this open last time? I asked Kyle.
Stole the key.
Don’t suppose you’ve still got it?
In answer, there was a flicker of space magic as Kyle opened a tiny gate to his storage space. There was a grating noise, followed by a loud click. We both went still.
Silence. There was the sound of a cupboard door from inside, followed by someone turning on a tap.
I shifted the focus of my dreamstone, broadcasting to Kyle, Luna, and Variam together. It was harder than maintaining a link with only one, but I’d been practising. I count two girls. I’m guessing slaves.
What do they look like? Kyle demanded.
It was an odd question. Or maybe not that odd—when Kyle had told me he wanted a “favour,” I’d had a pretty good idea of what it was. One early twenties, one late twenties. Younger one’s overweight and blond; older one’s thin with dark brown hair. I paused. I recognise the older one. Her name’s Selene.
“Who the hell cooks meals at this hour?” Variam whispered.
“Someone who doesn’t have a choice,” Luna whispered back.
Mental only, I said.
Can we go around? Variam said silently.
We don’t have that kind of time.
Footsteps sounded from the other side of the kitchen. “Hey,” a new voice called. “Selene. Pyre wants chicken wings.”
“All right.” Selene sounded stressed.
“Now. And he wants you to bring them.”
“Wait . . .”
“What?”
“Can you tell him I’m with the others?”
“No, I can’t.” Footsteps started up, fading away.
“Wait!” Selene called.
“What the fuck is your problem?” It was the other girl, the one I’d sensed earlier.
Selene didn’t answer and the other girl spoke again. “Stop acting like you’re better than us, yeah?”
The newcomer’s footsteps had faded away; now there were only two in the kitchen. It was the quietest it was going to get. We have to move, I said.
Let me handle this, Kyle said. He pushed open the door and slipped through.
Wait, Luna asked. What’s he doing?
The kitchens were big, and neither girl noticed Kyle at first. The door was partially blocked by a bulky old-model freezer, its cables preventing the door from opening fully and shielding us from view. I signalled Variam and Luna to stay back and moved around the other side of the freezer.
Kyle had walked up to the right side of the room. Selene was kneeling down, going hurriedly through the cupboards. “Selene,” Kyle said.
Selene jumped to her feet, spinning around, a hand going up to her chest. She stared at Kyle wide-eyed.
“I told you I’d be back,” Kyle said.
The other girl had been by the stoves; now she’d turned and was frowning at Kyle. “Who are you?”
“You okay?” Kyle asked Selene.
“I—” Selene shook her head. If I peered out, I’d be able to see her; a taller-than-average girl with dark brown hair, pretty but with a drawn and miserable look. Her clothes were frayed and dirty. “Don’t.”