‘And the very small ones?’
‘Seven-fifty. The prices are just underneath, on the shelf.’
‘Oh, they are? I didn’t see them.’
Once the woman was gone, I turned back to Luna. ‘What do you think?’
‘About what?’
I looked at her.
‘Oh right. Look, Alex, I don’t know. Do we have to have this conversation now?’
‘I’ve got to spend this evening prepping for the Council meeting tomorrow,’ I said. ‘Besides, you spent more than enough time bugging me back when I was the one running this place.’
‘And now you’re getting your own back,’ Luna muttered. ‘Great. Okay, look, I’m going to ask again. Why are you asking me?’
‘Because it’s a choice between you or Vari, and when it comes to talking about these kinds of things, Vari’s got even less patience.’
‘Isn’t there a much more obvious candidate here?’ Luna asked. ‘As in, you know, the person you’re talking about? How about instead of having this conversation with me, you have it with her?’
‘And how am I going to bring that up?’ I said. ‘“Hi, Anne, so I went into your mind without telling you and had a chat with the part of yourself that you’re ashamed of and keep cut off from everyone else, and we had a talk about the thing that you’ve already made really clear you don’t want to talk about with anybody. Now would you like to talk about it some more?”’
‘I’m not saying it’s going to be a good conversation, but it seems like a better solution than moping around my counter.’
‘Have you got any advice?’
‘Like what?’
‘You’re Anne’s best friend,’ I said. ‘If anyone would know, it ought to be you.’
Luna sighed. ‘I suppose I am. But that doesn’t mean I know everything about her. Actually, in a lot of ways, the more time I’ve spent with Anne, the more I realise I don’t know much about her at all. I mean, she trusts me and I trust her. And I’ve opened up to her a lot. There were times, when things were really bad, and I was lying on my bed crying, and having her there to talk to … it really helped. And I knew she’d never tell anyone else. But she’s never really done the same. I think you might actually know more of her secrets than any of the rest of us. Ever since you went to find her in Sagash’s castle, I’ve noticed that she acts differently around you than she does around everyone else. Even Vari.’
‘But I don’t know what to say,’ I said. ‘I mean, if I’m dealing with someone like Onyx threatening me, or someone like Levistus trying to get me killed, I know exactly what to do. With something like this, I don’t. I’m not a psychologist.’
‘So go to an actual psychologist, then. What’s that woman’s name, the mind mage? Dr Shirland?’
I sighed. ‘I asked her. She says she’s happy to see Anne, but she won’t call her up and nag her to come, because the patient’s supposed to be the one making the decision to participate and pressuring her would be unethical.’
‘Then it sounds to me like you’re back to asking Anne.’
Another customer came to the counter and again we broke off. This one wanted suggestions for a present for his girlfriend, and while Luna was busy with him two more joined the queue behind. I was left alone with my thoughts for a good ten minutes. I didn’t come up with any answers I liked.
‘Okay,’ Luna said once she was finished, turning back to me. ‘Maybe you should focus on the part you can do something about. Like the question of how that jinn’s getting access.’
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Well, as far as that goes, I’ve got a guess. Back when I spoke to Dr Shirland, she thought that the jinn wouldn’t be able to possess Anne without some sort of connection. I was mostly worried about Anne finding that jinn’s item and picking it up again, but now that I think about it, that wasn’t exactly what Dr Shirland said. What she said it needed was a sympathetic link. And that got me thinking. Linking minds is exactly what my dreamstone does. And I’m not the only mage who has one.’
‘Who else— Oh,’ Luna said. ‘Last year …’
‘We got another dreamstone for Richard,’ I said. ‘Yeah. Arachne told me at the time that it was different from mine, less for talking, more for dominating. What if that’s how the jinn is getting in? He’s sitting off in his mansion somewhere and giving it access to Anne’s mind?’
‘And you think that dark-side Anne is letting it in.’
I nodded. ‘Dr Shirland was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be able to just brute-force its way into Anne’s mind. But if you’ve got someone letting you in through the back door …’
Luna thought about it. ‘How would he know when to set up the link? I mean, he’s got other things to do, right? I can’t really see him just sitting around all day waiting.’
‘I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘But out of all the ways it could be getting access, this is the best answer I can come up with.’
Luna frowned. ‘I don’t like it, but it fits.’ A customer made to approach the counter, but Luna glanced at them with a wait please gesture and they withdrew. ‘Explains why he wanted that dreamstone. He’s been planning this a long time, hasn’t he?’
‘We already knew that.’
‘So what’s he doing all this for?’ Luna asked. ‘What’s his endgame?’
‘My best guess is that he wants Anne,’ I said. ‘It’s not like he’d be the first one. Sagash and Morden already tried. With Anne’s power and the jinn’s power, all concentrated in one person … that would be pretty scary.’
‘Don’t know if either of them would be keen on following his orders,’ Luna said. ‘Okay. So if that’s true, how do we stop it?’
‘Shut off his access to Anne,’ I said. ‘Which means getting that other Anne to stop opening the back door. Which brings us round in a circle.’
‘Yeah, well,’ Luna said, ‘then I’m going to go round in a circle too. You should be having this conversation with her.’
I made a face but didn’t answer. The customer approached Luna again and this time she turned to talk to him, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the busy shop.
9
‘And that brings us up to date,’ Bahamus finished. ‘We have not heard further from Onyx, and all signs indicate that negotiations have come to a close.’
‘They aren’t closed until we agree,’ Sal Sarque said. ‘And by “we” I mean the whole Council, Bahamus, not just you.’
‘I agree,’ Alma said. ‘Why were we not consulted?’
Bahamus inclined his head. ‘You are being consulted now.’
‘This seems very ill-advised,’ Undaaris said sharply. ‘I think a matter like this should have been brought before the entire Council from the beginning.’
‘There were security considerations,’ Bahamus said. ‘In any case, the final decision is of course subject to a full Council vote.’ He nodded in my direction. ‘If you have any further queries about the details, Verus is better informed to answer.’
Several pairs of eyes turned in my direction; none were friendly. Thanks, Bahamus, I thought. Well, it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen this coming.
‘Very well, Verus,’ Alma said coolly. ‘Perhaps you would like to inform us as to how you plan to carry out this … escapade.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t take credit for the plan or its execution,’ I said. You’re not hanging this one on me. ‘But the basic idea is that Onyx will supply us with a time and a place where Mage Drakh is due to make a scheduled appearance. The Keepers will prepare the area in advance, then move in once his presence is confirmed.’