I thought about it for all of five seconds. I’d never tried bringing more than one person into Elsewhere, and if I had, I wouldn’t have picked Rachel … and none of that mattered since I didn’t see how we had any choice. “Why not,” I said. “I’m relying on one psychotic Dark mage, might as well make it two.”
Luna gave me an odd look. “What do you-?”
“Tell you later.” I started walking again, leading Luna towards the edge of the room. “Um,” Luna said. “Where are we going?”
“To Deleo.”
“Okay.” Luna thought for a second. “Where is she?”
“Up to you.”
Luna looked at me. After a second, she realised I was serious.
The pillars ahead turned out to be masking a tunnel into another hallway. “What did you mean about a Dark mage?” Luna said.
“Sonder brought along some muscle.”
“Sonder? Really?”
“Surprised?”
“Well, he’s a mage. I guess he can get people to do stuff for him, right?”
“Not quite how it happened.” I glanced down at Luna. “He’s tougher than you think.”
“He’s a bit nerdy.”
“He went looking into this on his own. He’s the one who found the link between Martin and Belthas.” I shrugged. “Figured it out before I did.”
As I said Martin’s name Luna’s face went blank and she looked down at her feet. We walked in silence for a little while, passing through another columned hall. There were no windows and the shadows were long and deep.
“Want to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“Martin.”
“What’s the point?”
I didn’t answer.
“I was stupid.” Luna stared ahead of her, her voice bitter. “I knew there were things he wasn’t telling me. I thought-I thought it didn’t matter. As long as he …”
Luna trailed off. “I know this isn’t much consolation,” I said at last, “but it won’t be the last time you make a fool of yourself over a guy. It happens.”
Luna kept walking, head down, arms wrapped around herself. “I used to think about it,” she said quietly. “I’d see some-one and I’d imagine it. Being with them. But I always knew it was just a dream. This time … I thought it was real. He said …” Luna’s voice wavered. “He said he loved me. That everything with the monkey’s paw was to help. He said that was why he needed to see Arachne. So we could be together.”
I stayed silent, walking by Luna’s side; I couldn’t see her face, but I knew she was crying. I felt pure hatred towards Martin. I try to give newbies to the magical world a chance, I really do. But Martin had crossed the line.
“There’s something else,” I said at last. “I know it’s not a good time but it’s got to be done.”
Luna wiped her eyes, her voice muffled. “What?”
“I’m going to get you out of there,” I said. “One way or another. But once that’s done … we’re going to have to decide if you’ll stay.”
Luna looked up, confused. “I’ve been treating you like a half apprentice,” I said. “I’ve been teaching you but without everything else that goes with it, and it’s not working. I realised that yesterday. Belthas was able to get to Arachne through you and I got captured trying to find you. By going with Martin you put all three of us in danger.”
“But-” Luna looked stricken. “I didn’t-”
I shook my head. “I’m not blaming you for what Belthas and Martin did. But you should have listened when I warned you off. I nearly got killed trying to get you out of there and I can’t keep doing that. If I do, sooner or later I’ll end up dead, and probably you will too.”
Luna and I walked for a little while in silence. “So what am I supposed to do?” Luna said at last.
“You’ve got a choice,” I said. “We can stop the training. No more work, no more late-night outings. We can still be friends. Go on as before.”
“Or?”
“Or you become my apprentice-this time for real. I’ll teach you what I know, introduce you to my contacts, bring you into mage society. The Light mages have a teaching structure. You’ll have classes and tests. You’ll meet other apprentices. But there’s a price. I’ll be your master-not your friend. If I tell you to do something, you’ll do it. And I won’t be the only one. You’ll be under the authority of every other Light mage you meet. You won’t get second chances either. Disobey me and you’re out. And you won’t be able to come back.”
Luna stared at me, then opened her mouth to speak. I held up a finger. “Don’t answer yet. Once we’re out of this, take some time and think about it. Right now, we’ve got other things to worry about.”
Luna kept her eyes on me, searching my face as if looking for something, then finally nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” I stopped. “I think we’re here.”
We’d reached a hallway lined with doors. Shafts of light fell through from small windows high above but the shadows between them were dark and cold. The door Luna had led us to looked no different from the others, yet somehow I felt reluctant to touch it. It was made of black crystal, almost translucent enough to see through but not quite. The whispers had stopped.
As I stood looking at the door I caught the flicker of movement again and snapped my head around. This time I was sure I saw something: a flash of white vanishing back into the hall from which we’d entered. The hallway was silent. I kept my eyes on the entrance but nothing moved.
“Alex?” Luna asked.
I hesitated for a second. Luna might know what it was but this landscape was shaped by thought. Drawing her attention to our pursuer could be a very bad idea. “It’s nothing,” I said. “Do it.”
Luna reached for the door, paused for a second, then put her hand to it. It opened at a touch, the doors swinging silently back.
Beyond was swirling darkness, exactly like a cloud of smoke with every bit of light drained out of it. Tendrils of shadow drifted towards us and Luna stepped back hurriedly.
“Um,” Luna said after we’d both stared into the blackness for a few seconds. “What is that?”
“I have no idea,” I said honestly.
“I thought this was supposed to be Deleo’s dreams?”
“Maybe it is,” I said. Something about that darkness scared me. I had the creepy feeling it was just waiting for us to get within reach. I took another step back.
We stared a bit longer. “Do we go in?” Luna said eventually.
“God no.”
We stood there. “Well, we have to do something,” Luna said.
“I’m thinking,” I said. I didn’t know if it was my imagination, but it felt as though the cloud of darkness were edging towards us.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness, focused and cold. “What are you doing here?” A second later, its owner stepped into view-and she wasn’t alone.
Rachel is average height, with bright blue eyes. When I first knew her she was good-looking, even cute. She’s changed a lot since then. It’s rare now to see her with her mask off and when I do her face makes me think of sculpted ice, beautiful and cold. The darkness shrank from her, curling about her feet.
Standing on Rachel’s right was a girl with dark-red hair. She was smaller and younger than Rachel and felt far more alive, full of vitality and movement. She’d been dead for ten years, but in Elsewhere that doesn’t make as much difference as you’d think. She wasn’t looking at Rachel and Rachel wasn’t looking at her, but they seemed aware of each other somehow, as if they knew exactly where the other was without needing to see.
And on Rachel’s left was something that wasn’t human at all, faceless and eyeless, made of living shadow. Its body blended with the darkness around, making it almost impossible to pick out its shape, but I had the vague impression of something tall and slender, unnaturally still. Even twenty feet away, I could feel the cold radiating from it.
But it was the redheaded girl who held my attention. “Shireen,” I said quietly.