Onyx looked as though he was trying to think of a reason to say no, but after a moment he grudgingly twitched a hand. With a creaking, scraping noise the ten-foot bookcase rose and pivoted in midair. Dust bloomed around us and books toppled and fell to the carpet with thumps but the bookcase didn’t wobble, held by bands of force. As it twisted away, a door was revealed in the wall. It was faded and looked ancient. “It’s locked,” I said. “Give me a second and I’ll-”
Onyx made a flicking motion and the door burst inwards with a crunch of splintering wood, leaving the lock still attached to the door frame. Beyond were stairs descending into darkness and a clattering sound echoed up to us as the bits of door went bouncing down the stairs to hit the bottom with a double thud. “Or you could just do that,” I said.
Onyx walked forward and down, disappearing into the gloom.
I waited for Onyx’s footsteps to fade away, then looked at Anne. “Might be safer if you stayed out here.”
Anne thought for a second and shook her head. “I’d rather go with you.”
* * *
The basement at the bottom of the stairs was pitch-dark and silent. The air was dead and foul-smelling; there was obviously no ventilation. I clicked on my torch and its bright white beam revealed benches, shelves, strange equipment. Beakers and boxes were piled around the room and an open doorway led farther in. There was no sign of Onyx.
“What is this place?” Anne whispered.
“Looks like an old lab,” I whispered back. Something about the basement made me keep my voice down. I moved to one of the tables and studied the contents, then angled my torch downwards.
“Do you think anyone’s here?” Anne whispered.
I moved the splash of light from my torch across the floor. The stone foundations were covered by a thick layer of dust, broken only by the two halves of the door. Onyx’s footprints were clearly visible leading through the doorway and there were no others. “We’re the first ones to set foot in this place for years.”
“So this isn’t where the apprentices have gone. .” Anne said, half to herself. She moved to one of the pieces of equipment resting against the wall. It looked like a giant angled casket made in black iron with odd-shaped pieces protruding. “What are these things?”
“Research equipment,” I said. The table held nothing but long-corroded items, and I moved to the shelves. “For magical experiments.”
Anne was studying the casket. “I’ve never seen any that look like this.”
“You would have sixty years ago.” I focused on the immediate futures of myself searching the shelves and saw a cluster of futures around the right corner where I found something. I moved closer and narrowed it down to a cardboard box on the bottom shelf. “Standard doctrine in the first half of the twentieth century was to use wrought iron for lab gear.”
Anne started towards me, then paused, looking towards the archway. “Onyx is coming back.”
I opened the box to reveal a stack of dusty papers and notebooks. I lifted them out and gave them to Anne. “Here. Take these and wait upstairs.”
“But-”
“I’ll catch you up. Quickly.”
Anne hesitated, then obeyed. I replaced the lid on the box and gave the room a final quick scan to see if I’d missed anything. A moment later I felt the presence behind me.
Onyx was standing in the doorway. His dark clothes faded into the blackness beyond and the only parts of him that caught the light were his hands and face, pale and still. The torchlight cast his face in shadow and I could see the glint of his eyes as he watched me, waiting.
“Find anything?” I asked.
Onyx said nothing, and something about his eyes and stance sent a chill through me. I was suddenly aware of how alone we were. Nobody else knew we were down here and all the mages were at the tournament. There was Anne and that was why I’d sent her upstairs, but. .
“Why’d you leave it behind?” Onyx said.
“Leave what?”
“The fateweaver,” Onyx said.
I looked at Onyx, deciding how to answer. He looked relaxed and still but I wasn’t fooled; I could sense violence lurking in the futures ahead. “You think it should have been you, don’t you?” I said.
Onyx stared at me. “You should know better,” I said. “What you have is what you can take.”
“And right now,” Onyx said softly, “I can take anything from you I want.”
“Tell me something, Onyx.” I met the Dark mage’s gaze. “If you had something as powerful as the fateweaver, would you give it up? Or would you make sure you could still use it?”
“You think I’m stupid?”
I just looked at him. I had given up the fateweaver. But I know how Dark mages think. Someone like Onyx would never give up that sort of power. And he’d never believe anyone else would do it either.
Onyx started to say something, then stopped. I felt the futures shift and swirl. “So?” I said. “What’s it going to be?”
For a long moment Onyx was still, then the futures settled. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.
I turned and climbed the stairs away from Onyx. My back itched all the way up.
* * *
“ Okay,” I said into the phone. “No, it isn’t. . Yeah. . Yeah. . About ten. . We’re fine. . I said we’re fine. . Look, just be there, okay?. . Okay. See you then.” I hung up.
“That was Sonder, right?” Luna asked.
It was afternoon and the sun was already setting, the short winter’s day drawing to a close. Through the window, yellow-gold light painted the lawns and cast long shadows over the trees. Though I still wasn’t comfortable in the mansion I was finding that staying in the edge rooms near windows made it easier-the connection to the outside made it feel less oppressive somehow. Anne was sitting cross-legged on the bed while Luna was a safe distance away at the table, the silver mist of her curse moving in lazy arcs around her.
“He’s with a team of mages trying to find Yasmin,” I said. “They traced her from here to the station and all the way to London, but they lost her in Kings Cross. There was a shroud. Sonder says he’s sure it’s the same one as before.”
“Do they know where she is?” Anne asked. She looked worried.
“Still searching. How’s it going?”
“Well, I have no idea what most of this stuff means,” Luna said, dropping the folder she’d been holding. The table and bed were covered with the dusty papers we’d taken from the basement. Luna nodded to the bed. “Anne does though.”
“Sorry?” Anne seemed to wake up. “Oh. Um. . I think most of this is life magic research. He doesn’t use the same words, but. .”
“Research into what?”
“Longevity,” Anne said. “Life extension.”
I frowned. “Why would-?”
I stopped and looked at the door. Footsteps sounded from outside, followed by a knock. I motioned to Luna and Anne to stay where they were and went to open it.
Crystal was standing out in the corridor. She was wearing yet another expensive-looking business suit, this one a dark blue. Her eyes measured me up and down. “Verus.”
“Hey there.”
“I’ve received a formal challenge request against you from the Dark mage Onyx.” Crystal handed me a slim folder. “Here are the particulars.”
I raised an eyebrow, flipped the folder open, and skimmed the contents. “Details of offence. .” I read aloud. “Damage of property. . attempted theft of property. . actual theft of property. . assault upon his person. . attempted murder. . trespass. .” I glanced up. “Don’t remember doing the last one.”
“He doesn’t seem to like you,” Crystal said.
“So I gather.” I closed the folder. “You’re overseeing the challenge?”
“This is my property,” Crystal said coolly. “Do you have a formal reply?”
“I don’t have to give one for twenty-four hours, do I?”
“No.”
“Okay, it can wait till then.”
Crystal frowned slightly. “You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously.”