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‘Then why are you doing this?’ Anne’s voice was pleading.

‘Because I’m not going to win.’

‘What—’ Anne said, then stopped.

‘It was never on the cards, Anne.’ Wearily I straightened, looking ahead into the futures. Barrayar’s men would be here in a few minutes. ‘Too many of them, too few of us. From the minute Barrayar made that phone call, there were only three ways this could go. In the first, Luna died. In the second, you and I died. I took the third choice.’

‘Don’t do this,’ Anne said quietly. ‘Please. There has to be another way.’

‘I’ve always had a feeling this would catch me up sooner or later. Didn’t know how many of you would be caught up in it too. Vari’s okay. Luna’s okay. Sorry I couldn’t do more for you. Tell Luna…’ I took a breath. ‘Sorry I missed her graduation. Would have liked to see her as a mage.’

‘Alex—’ Anne’s voice broke.

‘Goodbye, Anne.’ I hung up, then leaned against the wall, sagging. That was harder than I expected.

I stood alone in the dark, waiting. In the distance, the sounds of the city ebbed and flowed, but here, in the ruined offices, everything was quiet.

I’ve thought about my death. I think most people who go in for my sort of lifestyle do. I’ve read a few writers who claim that no one can ever really believe in their future demise (apparently they think everyone in the world is secretly delusional enough to believe they’ll live for ever, or something), but frankly, it’s bullshit. The truth is that once you make a habit of getting into danger on a regular or semi-regular basis, then it doesn’t take long for it to sink in that you have a finite life expectancy, and that goes triple when you’re a diviner and you can actually see yourself die over and over again.

You can never completely rule out an accident. It wouldn’t take much – a bullet slipping past my precognition, a fireball when I was just a little off guard. But I’d always had the feeling that it was more likely to be something on purpose. I’ve made a lot of enemies over the years, too many for any one mage to handle alone. Just as Arachne had said, the problem was my independence. Too many foes, not enough friends.

So I’d had time to think about what I was going to do in this sort of situation. Not exactly this situation; I hadn’t seen the threat to Luna, though with hindsight I probably should have. Maybe if my preparations had been better, I could have avoided it … but then again, maybe not. I’d considered outcomes in which I fought, and others in which I didn’t. I’d made plans to run if I had to. But one thing I’d decided for sure: I wouldn’t sacrifice Luna or Variam or Anne. In the end, all of this was about paying for old mistakes, and the mistakes were mine, not theirs. What goes around comes around, and I’ve taken enough lives in my time. Maybe it was my turn.

I felt a flash of gate magic, followed by another. Finally. I moved down the hallway, navigating in the pitch-darkness, feeling rubble crunch under my feet. Path-walks located Anne’s tripwires, and while I was at it I double-checked the weapons I’d hidden. Just because I was going to die here, I didn’t see any reason to make things easy for them.

Five minutes passed, then ten. I could feel movement outside. The sky was overcast, showing neither moon nor stars, and the wasteland outside the building was an expanse of darkness. I kept moving, slipping from hall to hall.

My phone rang and I picked it up. ‘Are you going to sit out there all day?’

‘I was about to ask you a similar question.’ Barrayar’s voice was smooth. ‘Is there any way I can motivate you to come out?’

‘Hmm, nope,’ I said. I glanced through a window-frame, checking the rear quadrant. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘I’ve been authorised by Levistus to guarantee your safety, as well as that of your apprentice,’ Barrayar said. ‘Should you fully co-operate.’

‘Gosh, what a great deal,’ I said dryly. ‘Sounds a lot like the one he gave me the first time we met. Has he told you that story, by the way? I wonder how long you’ll stay useful to him?’

‘Yes, he didn’t think you would take him up on the offer.’ Barrayar sighed. ‘You realise I can send enough waves of men into that building to fill it from floor to ceiling.’

‘Sounds like my kind of odds.’

‘Come now, Verus. You’re just being childish.’

‘You want me?’ I dropped the pretence, letting my feelings show through in my voice. ‘Then come and get me, you prissy little fuck.’ I hung up.

Barrayar didn’t call back. A tube train went by to the south, the carriages going past one after another, rattle and bang, rattle and bang. The futures shifted and as I looked ahead I saw danger zones opening up on the eastern side of the building. If I showed myself in the open window frames, I would take sniper fire. The shots didn’t seem to be lethal; they must still be hoping to take me alive. Good.

Minutes ticked by, tense and slow. I kept moving; it was a safe bet that they had a mage or adept from the living family reporting my position, and I didn’t want to give them an easy shot. I was expecting the first wave to be unaugmented humans, Council security working as Levistus’s hit squad. They wouldn’t enjoy the experience. When I’d told Barrayar that I liked the odds, I hadn’t been lying. I have a whole set of tricks up my sleeve that I never normally get to use, because they’re too extreme or desperate or cause too much collateral damage. It would be fun to cut loose, just once. After they lost enough security men, they’d send in the constructs. Then if those weren’t enough, it would be the turn of the mages. Sooner or later, they’d have enough to overwhelm me. I’d let them drive me back, into the room with the mines. And then … well. End of the road.

More time passed, and I started to fidget. They’re taking their time. I found my mind wandering … what were my odds of getting one of the mages? I figured I could probably catch one or two. That many mines, with the element of surprise, could overwhelm even the shield of a battle mage. I wondered what it would feel like. From looking into the futures, I didn’t think it would hurt. The speed of the projectiles would outpace my body’s nerve conduction velocity; I’d be ripped to pieces before my brain could process the damage. Suppose if I get bored of waiting, I could just go up and press the button. But I’d really like to take a few of the bastards with me.

Futures shifted. There. A squad was advancing from the building to the south, covered by the snipers. I darted up to the first floor, finding a viewing point where I could see them without exposing myself to fire. Leaning against a wall, looking through a doorway and a window, I could just glimpse movement in the darkness. I looked into the futures in which I moved out for a better look. They’d be in range in only a minute. Here we go …

Suddenly the futures changed. The lines in which the squad kept advancing vanished. I pulled back, expecting an attack, but nothing came. I took a closer look with my divination, and frowned. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but one of the men seemed to be using his radio. As I watched, the squad hunkered down. A diversion? I checked, but no one was approaching from any other direction either. Before, I’d only been scanning for movement, but now, as I looked ahead, I realised that I couldn’t see any attacks at all. Even the futures in which I was shot for walking in front of a window were gone. They were holding fire. What the hell?

A minute dragged by. It became five, then ten. My hands were shaking from adrenaline. Were they going to come, or what? At last the squad of men out in the open began to move … in the opposite direction. Staring in disbelief, I watched them withdraw back into the night.