And then all of a sudden we were there. We’d come to what was obviously a cell block, metal doors with sliding windows on the outside. “He’s—” I began.
“He’s in there!” Slate said. Death mages can sense living creatures: it’s not as precise as lifesight, but Slate obviously knew what to look for. “Get the door!”
Trask turned the lock and most of the door to dust. Inside was a plain cell, a toilet, a bunk . . . and Haken, lying unmoving on the bed. Slate took a step forward.
“Wait.” Caldera caught him, jerking him to a stop. “Verus, any traps?”
I concentrated. “Can’t see.”
Slate shoved Caldera off with an effort and strode into the room. Nothing triggered and he bent over Haken for a second, then looked back at us. “He’s okay.”
“I don’t like that look on your face,” Caldera said. “What’s wrong?”
“This is too easy,” I said. “There weren’t even any wards . . .”
“Who cares?” Slate said.
Something clicked. “It’s a decoy.”
“Looks like Haken to me,” Caldera said.
“No. I mean, yes, it’s him, but that’s not what I meant. We weren’t—”
“Verus?” Slate said. “Shut up. You’ve done your job.”
“Wait,” Caldera said. “We weren’t what?”
Slate gave Caldera a look. “Really?”
“I’ve learnt that if you bring a diviner along, it’s a good idea to listen to him,” Caldera said. “Especially this one. We weren’t what?”
“Vihaela isn’t working for White Rose anymore,” I said. “She’s bailing.”
“How?”
I spread out my senses, looking for Vihaela. Too much interference—I needed more to go on. I thought about how all this had started. The data focus and what was on it . . .
Information. The real power behind White Rose. I snapped my fingers. “She’ll be at the archives. Wherever they keep their records. She’s going to take them and run.”
“Why?” Slate said.
“Because that’s what she’s after. Look, think about it. What would she want with Haken? She wasn’t trying to silence him, she wants the Keepers here. Everything she’s done has made things worse for White Rose, not better.”
“You don’t know that,” Slate said.
I looked up at the ceiling in frustration. He’s not going to listen, is he? I turned to Caldera.
Caldera looked back at me for a second, then glanced at Slate. “We are still under orders to bring her in.”
“You’re really buying this?” Slate said.
Caldera shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
Slate hesitated, and I felt the futures fork and then shift. “Fine,” he said. “Trask, get Haken out. We’ll take Vihaela.”
“You sure?” Trask said.
“Don’t have time to wait.” Slate turned to me. “Find Vihaela. And make it fast.”
We split, Trask carrying Haken back the way we came while Slate, Caldera, and I headed deeper. With only three of us left, there was less interference to my senses. The machine-gun fire from the roof had stopped, and instead I could hear shots echoing from the ground floor; the fight was still going on, and it sounded as though the Council had brought in reinforcements. Shouts and hollow thuds echoed from below, and I could smell smoke. The fighting was getting closer, which seemed like a good indication that White Rose was losing. I didn’t know where Vihaela was, but I’d managed to get a good enough sense of the building that I could guess where the more secure facilities were housed, and I picked us a route that would avoid as many people as possible. Running footsteps sounded from all around, but in the chaos we were able to make our way across the building without being spotted.
I reached a corner and stopped, using my divination to peer around the edge. The room beyond had a circular door in the far end that looked like a vault, made of metal and massively thick. The lock had been melted by some kind of intense heat, and the door was swung half open. Bodies lay scattered across the floor. A chair had been knocked over, but apart from that there were no signs of battle, and no bullet holes in the walls. The walls in this section were thicker, blocking out the sounds of the fighting behind, and all of a sudden the corridor was eerily quiet.
Caldera frowned at the bodies. “Any of our guys make it this far?”
“No.” Slate came around the corner and saw what Caldera was looking at. “Blue on blue?”
“I don’t think this was an accident,” I said. I nodded at the vault door. “Get ready. Vihaela’s coming out.”
“I don’t see her.”
“Trust me.”
Slate and Caldera looked at each other, then walked forward, stepping over the bodies to take up positions flanking the door. The anteroom had two corridors leading off it, one to Caldera’s right, the other where we’d come from. I stayed close to the corner.
Footsteps sounded from inside the vault, and Vihaela appeared. She looked much the same as she had when I’d seen her out in the grounds, with one change: she had a light satchel slung over one shoulder. She looked unsurprised to see us. “Oh,” she said. “You.”
“Mage Vihaela,” Slate began. “Under the—”
Vihaela waved a hand. “Can we skip this part?”
“Suits me,” Slate said. He was standing in a ready stance, feet spread wide. “You coming quietly?”
Vihaela looked between us for a second before answering. “Three of you.” She frowned slightly. “I’m actually a little insulted.”
“Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble,” Slate said. “We got better things to do than go after freaks like you.”
“I mean, three Keepers would be one thing,” Vihaela said. “But two Keepers and an auxiliary? You aren’t even taking me seriously.”
“We’re crying,” Caldera said.
“Just out of curiosity, what are you charging me with? It’s not as though I hurt your boss.”
“Bullshit,” Slate said.
“Sorry,” Vihaela said. “Didn’t lay a finger on him. You can check with him when he wakes up.”
“If you didn’t,” Caldera said, “then who are you saying did?”
“Now you want me to solve your case too?” Vihaela shook her head. “Come on. If I really wanted Haken dead, you think I couldn’t have done it already? There’s no point offing Keepers. Sometimes we have to hurt you a little, just to teach you to stay out of our business, but killing you? Why bother?”
“Keep talking,” Slate said. “Your men are losing out there.”
I still couldn’t hear or sense any people moving in our direction, but the longer this went on, the better the chance that Council reinforcements would arrive. Caldera stayed quiet, and I knew she had to be thinking the same thing. If Vihaela stuck around, sooner or later she’d be overwhelmed.
Vihaela turned towards the right-hand corridor. “Well, fun as this has been, I’ve got places to be.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Slate said.
Vihaela paused, then turned her head to look back at Slate and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want to do this?”
“You don’t want to pick a fight with Keepers, Vihaela,” Caldera said.
“Times are changing, Keeper.” Vihaela smiled. “The people you work for are going to be changing too. Might want to think about staying on their good side.”
I stared at Vihaela. “Now,” Vihaela said. “I’m going to walk away. If you’re smart, you’ll tell your captain that I was gone when you got here. If not . . .” She shrugged. “Your call.” She started towards the corridor.
Caldera stepped in her way. Vihaela kept walking, unhurried. She was ten feet away from Caldera, then five. Caldera hesitated and for a second I could tell she was thinking about backing off. I knew I should be doing something, but I found myself staring, fascinated. There was something hypnotic about Vihaela’s movements . . .
The moment broke and the futures settled. Caldera reached out to seize Vihaela as the Dark mage came into range.
“Don’t!” I shouted.
I was almost too late, but Caldera heard my warning and twisted aside at the very last second, just as Vihaela moved. Green-black light flashed, Caldera went staggering back, and Slate struck instantly, death energy lashing out.