—and Onyx was right on the other side. I scanned left and right for ways to avoid him and realised with a sinking heart that he was standing still. If he’d been moving in literally any direction I could have dodged him, but I couldn’t sneak past on an open balcony. Below, I knew that Avis was just about to start up the stairs. I had maybe twenty seconds to get out of sight.
I looked around, thinking fast. There was a doorway set into the wall but the room beyond was a dead end. If I went back the way I came I’d run straight into Morden, and eventually Sagash and Caldera. I could hide, but that meant giving up any control over whether I’d be found. I looked into the futures in which I got spotted by Onyx and Avis. Both were about ready to kill me on sight.
Kill on sight . . . I stopped. Wait a minute . . .
Ten seconds. I moved to the corner, snatched up a wooden statuette from the table, waited two seconds for Onyx to turn his head the other way, then stepped around the corner and threw. Two other Dark mages whipped their heads around as the statuette described a neat ballistic arc before hitting Onyx in the back of the head.
Onyx staggered but recovered almost instantly, whirling around as a transparent bubble of force flashed into existence around him. He stared at me, then down at the statuette, then up at me again. I think the sheer ridiculousness of it threw him for a second; no one does that kind of thing to a Dark mage. I figured he needed some extra motivation, so I gave him the finger just to make my feelings clear.
That did the trick. Onyx’s eyes lit up with fury, and as his hands came up I jumped back around the corner and darted into the room. Just as I got inside, Avis appeared at the top of the stairs, turning in my direction. I held dead still as Avis stalked by outside, passed my hiding place, and turned the corner to where Onyx was waiting.
There was a moment’s silence, then the flat wham of a force spell and Avis went flying straight out over the club floor. He clipped the railing on his way over, but his shield was already up and it only sent him tumbling. Avis didn’t fall but kept going horizontally, doing two full backflips before steadying himself to hover in midair, grey light gathering at his hands, storm-winds whipping at his hair and clothes. He threw out an arm and something translucent flashed out just in time to meet Onyx’s second strike.
I was already running, using the brief moment of distraction to make it to the stairwell. I raced down the stairs three at a time, sending Dark mages jumping out of the way. A thunderclap shook the room as I made it to the ground floor; Luna was waiting by a side door behind one of the tables, looking up at the battle with wide eyes. “We’re leaving!” I told her as I came to a halt, dumping the contents of a small pouch into my right hand. It sparkled briefly before I closed my fist around it.
Luna nodded, not taking her eyes off the scene at my back. Behind and above, Avis was still duelling with Onyx, the air mage a blur of motion as he wove through Onyx’s shots; he hadn’t yet noticed me and I wasn’t planning on giving him the chance. I pushed the door open.
The route Variam had told me about me led through the kitchens and out one of the side doors. It would have been nice if it had been unguarded, but unfortunately Jagadev’s the thorough type and there was a security man standing inside the anteroom. He didn’t carry a visible weapon but I could see a bulge inside his jacket. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said to the two of us. “These are the kitchens.”
“That’s all right,” I said. I’d slowed before opening the door and now I walked forward in a self-assured sort of way, obviously dismissing the guard. “I know where I’m going.” He wasn’t going for his gun; he couldn’t have been given my description yet. Good.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the guard said again, moving to block my path. I didn’t change course, and he held out an arm to bar my way as I walked into him. “I’m afraid you’ll have to—”
The guard’s arm blocked his view of what I was doing, and he had only an instant to react before I threw the handful of glitterdust right in his face. Sparkling flecks clung to his eyes, blinding him; he staggered back, hands coming up instinctively. The movement left his lower body open so I kicked him in the groin, then when he doubled over I hit him on the back of his head. He went down hard and I kept going; the whole fight had taken less than two seconds. Luna gave the guy an interested glance and followed.
We passed through the door and into a wide kitchen full of men and women in aprons. Steam and the scent of food filled the air, and between the din of cooking and the chatter of voices it was hard to hear. Someone shouted something as we reached the other side, but I didn’t turn to look and in only a second we were into the corridor beyond. The route Variam had given us was good, and although I’d been searching ahead to map our way it hadn’t been necessary. The corridor ended in a flight of stairs, and at the top was a fire door. I pushed it open and stepped out into the cool spring night.
We were in a Soho alley, the sounds of the city all around. Lights glowed from the street at the far end, a narrow window onto a brighter world. Music echoed down the alley, interrupted by a shriek. It sounded like excitement rather than pain . . . probably. “Vari,” I said as I trotted down the steps and turned right. “Two of us coming in cold.”
“Gating,” Variam said. From the end of the alley I felt a flicker of magic.
For his gate location Variam had chosen a hulking dark building at the end of the alley. The door was ajar rather than burnt to ashes; apparently even Variam’s capable of being subtle sometimes. “Taxi,” Luna called out as we walked in.
“You wish,” Variam said. The room was big and dark with metal racks along the walls and ceiling, and he was standing in a corner, the fiery glow of his magic lighting the gloomy interior. “We good to go?”
“All clear,” I said, shutting the door behind us. I’d been checking for any signs of pursuit, and while it was going to come, it was still a few minutes out. By the time they traced us here there’d be nothing but an empty room. “Calling Sonder,” I heard Luna say into her communicator. “Sonder, everything okay?”
“What?” Sonder said. He sounded distracted. “No, it’s fine.”
“Tell Caldera we’re out, okay? Oh, and have fun at the party.”
Variam’s gate bloomed and took shape in the air in front of him, a fiery ring leading into a place of trees and grass. I stepped through and let it take me away.
Chapter 6
We gated through a couple of staging points, then returned to my shop. I’d already told Luna to stay the night, and Variam ended up staying as well; given the amount of trouble I’d stirred up, I had the feeling that it might be a good idea to take a few extra precautions for a while.
I tried raising Sonder on the communicator but couldn’t reach him. Synchronous communicators are supposed to have an unlimited range but the smaller ones don’t work that way in practice; apparently there are some engineering problems that haven’t been worked out. From looking into the futures in which I called them, I could tell Sonder and Caldera were at least still able to answer their phones. I couldn’t really think of anything I could do that wouldn’t risk making matters worse, and in any case I had the feeling it might be a good idea to give Caldera a bit of time to cool off, so I left Sonder a message asking to meet tomorrow. I checked the building defences, spent a while looking into the future for attacks, then once I was reasonably sure no one was going to try to assassinate us during the night I left Luna and Variam to argue over who was going to get dinner and went to bed.