I scrolled through windows on the computer system, searching for a way to unlock the door. Access settings—no. Network controls—no. Local security—that should be it, but none of the commands were working . . .
The communicator pinged. “Hello, Verus,” Vihaela said. “How’s it going?”
“Just wonderful,” I said shortly. “Where are you?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself?”
I looked up at the monitors. For the first time, I could see movement on the vault cameras. The Dark mages of Vihaela’s team were spreading out, grabbing items off shelves and pedestals and shoving them into bags. As I watched, I caught sight of Vihaela, talking into the communicator. Where’s Anne? “So you’re in,” I said. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Vihaela said. “Though I should really give the credit to your friend. You never told me she was such a combat expert.”
“Yeah, she’s a woman of many talents,” I said. I could see Anne over Vihaela’s shoulder. “Since everything’s going so well, how about you order Onyx to stop trying to kill me?”
“He’s there?”
“Yes.”
“Oh well,” Vihaela said. “I try to make it a policy not to get between master and apprentice. I hope you’re still keeping an eye on things.”
“Are you listening to a word I’m saying?”
“I’m sure everything will be fine. Keep watch for another ten minutes, then you can come join us for extraction. I wouldn’t wait around for the Council if I were you.”
“Thanks, I’d figured that out on my own. What kind of extraction?”
“One of the items in this vault acts as an amplifier for piercing gate wards.”
“That’s great. What about the fact that Onyx is going to smash through the door in less than ten minutes?”
On the monitors, I saw Anne take a step towards Vihaela’s communicator; Vihaela gave her a look that stopped her. “Honestly, Verus, I don’t go running to you with all my problems.”
“Wait! I want to talk to—” Once again I found myself talking into a dead microphone.
Okay, Alex, think fast. I had . . . around seven and a half minutes before Onyx cut his way through. I went back to the computer settings with redoubled energy. Nothing, nothing . . . there. The lockdown command had reset the security permissions. I clicked the button marked Authorise.
A window flashed up. ENTER THUMBPRINT SCAN.
I looked around and found a thumbprint scanner. And the people who’d be authorised to use it would be . . . the people that Rachel had just turned into dust.
Shit.
An image on one of the monitors caught my eye; Rachel had just walked into the vault. Anne gave Rachel a look but Rachel ignored her, moving next to Vihaela to exchange a few words and—I frowned. Wait. What’s Rachel doing there . . . ?
The Crusaders arrived.
Every camera feed went dark all at once. I felt the signatures of spells in the distance: gates, fire, air. Gunfire sounded in the distance, followed by muffled shouts. I looked into the futures in which I waited where I was and realised that Onyx wasn’t going to be the first one in anymore. The Crusaders were less than two minutes away, they were going to open the door from the outside, and they were being led by . . .
Oh, come ON. It was Jarnaff, and he was being followed by a whole strike team. Was there a single mage in Britain who hated me who wasn’t in this place?
I scrambled for the controls. The Crusaders had done something to mess with the system, but they hadn’t shut it down completely and I managed to find a reset function. With a loud beep, the lights above the door panels went red. It would keep them out, but not for long. My divination lets me mimic expertise, but it’s not a replacement, and by my best guess I had maybe three minutes before either Onyx or the Crusaders broke through, at which point it would be a race to see who killed me first. I looked around from one door to the other. I felt like a rat in a trap. I had to come up with something . . .
If you have one problem, you have to solve it yourself. If you have lots of problems, sometimes you can get them to solve each other . . .
I grabbed Vihaela’s communicator and disabled the lock. “Cinder, this is Verus,” I said. “Come in.”
A moment’s pause, then the communicator activated. Cinder spoke over the whoosh of flame. “Little busy.”
“I need your help.”
“Can’t get to you—” Cinder broke off, addressing someone else. “Kyle! Eyes right!” There was the ratatat of an automatic weapon.
“Call Onyx,” I said. “Convince him I’m at the main entrance to the control room talking to the Crusaders.”
“How?”
“Jesus!” I snapped. “I don’t care what you say, tell him whatever the hell you like, just make him think I’m there and not inside!”
Cinder paused, but for only a heartbeat. “Fine. Wait one.” He cut off.
There was a scratching sound from the front door. I looked up in time to see the light above the door go from red to green, and I stabbed a finger at the keyboard, locking it again just a second before the door would have swung open. Damn, they’re fast. I hit a command that I knew would buy me a few seconds; the mouse icon spun as the application went into reset mode.
From the other side of the room came the scraping sound of warping metal. I looked and thought I could see a flicker as Onyx’s force blade cut through the wall. I held my breath. If it was going to work, it would have to be now. I looked through the futures. Nearly . . .
There. All of a sudden the futures in which Onyx came through the back door vanished, and I heard the distant sound of running feet. I stood listening, counting down in my head. To get all the way around the control room from the outside, Onyx would have to run down two corridors, then turn a corner. He should be coming into view of the Crusader team right about . . . now.
I felt a flash of force magic from outside. There was a muffled shout, then a scream, and I saw the wall vibrate. The futures in which the Crusaders broke through the door abruptly vanished.
There. I took a deep breath. If I was really lucky, Onyx and Jarnaff would kill each other, but at least now I had some breathing room. I put a hand to my ear. “Anne, this is Alex.”
No answer. “Anne, this is Alex. Can you receive?”
Still nothing. I frowned. Anne and I had checked those communicators just before leaving to meet Vihaela. What was going on?
I could still sense force magic through the walls: Onyx was giving the Crusaders quite a fight. I pulled up the camera controls and managed to find the command to get the vault cameras up and running, then looked up, searching through the screens.
The Dark mages were pulling out. Across the camera feeds, I could see the members of Vihaela’s team grabbing last items from the shelves and containers and hurrying for the far side of the vault. A gate was already open, one mage maintaining the spell while the others moved through one by one. A figure in a helmet was overseeing them, arms folded; Archon. I was struck by how well ordered the evacuation was. Dark mages usually don’t cooperate well, but these worked together quickly and efficiently.
It took me a second to find Vihaela, and when I did, I frowned. She was with Anne in a small alcove. The alcove contained a pedestal with an open box, and Vihaela and Anne seemed to be having some sort of argument. From her body language, Vihaela seemed to be trying to . . . order Anne? Persuade her, maybe . . .