“What can I say?” I came to a stop at the corner of the room, just above the stairs. “You’re a hard man to track down.”
I’d moved in this direction for a reason. Meredith was still hidden back in the alcove, and I needed to draw as much attention from her as I could. Crystal and Anne would be able to tell that there was someone there, but there was a good chance they wouldn’t know who.
“I’m afraid we’re a little busy at the moment. Could you wait?”
I made an openhanded gesture. “Go right ahead.”
“He’s going to interfere,” Rachel told Anne. Her eyes flicked to Sal Sarque, then back to me. “Kill him.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” Anne told her.
“Neither of you will attempt to kill him without my express instructions,” Richard said calmly. “As I was saying, Sarque, your position is lost. It is time you came to terms.”
Sal Sarque laughed. He looked keyed-up, ready to die any second. “You’re the one who’s fucked, Drakh. Every Light mage in the country is on their way here right now.”
“Most of your combat forces are committed to the assault on Arcadia,” Richard said. “I expect they’ll be successful, but Morden and Vihaela will slow them down significantly. Your remaining reserves are currently attacking this fortress from the outside . . .” Richard paused for a moment. “. . . and losing. By the time reinforcements arrive, the battle for this fortress will be over.”
“Bullshit.”
“Why do you think I’m still talking to you?”
“’Cause of this.” Sal Sarque gestured with the remote. His eyes flicked to me. “And as for you, Verus, you piece of shit, after today every last member of the Council will be hunting you down.”
I just looked at him. “As opposed to the last few days?”
“Now they know you’re working with Drakh, your last few days are going to look easy.”
“I wasn’t working with Drakh, you fucking idiot,” I told Sal Sarque. “I was one of the only members of the Council giving him any effective opposition. And I would have been happy to keep doing that, if you and Levistus had just been willing to work with me. But you had your heads so far up your collective arses that it apparently never occurred to any of you that making an enemy of me might be a bad idea.”
“You were always the enemy,” Sarque said.
“Always a Dark mage?” I shrugged. “Probably. But becoming your enemy was all you.”
“Just kill him,” Rachel said again. “He’s lying.”
“Glass houses, Rachel,” I said. “By the way, did you ever pass on my message to Richard?”
“I’m sure these are all fascinating conversations,” Richard said, “but I would appreciate it if you could table them until Sarque and I have addressed the matter at hand.”
“Yeah, come on, Drakh,” Sarque said invitingly. “Try it. I’ll blow you and your pet monster into dust.”
So how’s things? I said through the dreamstone to Dark Anne.
How do you think? Dark Anne said in annoyance. We took out the small fry but Sarque’s claiming he’s going to blow the place sky-high if we make a move. Make yourself useful and tell us if he’s bluffing.
I’d already checked the futures in which I attacked. If Sarque pressed the button that his thumb was resting on right now, the entire control centre would be torn apart by demolition charges. The fateweaver could protect me from a lot of things, but fifty tons of concrete collapsing on my head wasn’t one of them.
He’s not bluffing, I told her.
Well, that’s just frigging wonderful.
“As I have already said,” Richard told Sarque, “your death is not a requirement. That goes also for your aide.” He nodded towards Solace. “I would much rather have you alive than crushed in the remnants of your fortress.”
“Yeah, I bet you would.”
“I am not going to torture you,” Richard said. “You will be kept in custody with a view to trading you back to the Council in some sort of exchange.”
“Bullshit.”
“This war isn’t going to last forever, Sarque. I have no intention of wiping the Council out to the last man. I’d rather come to a mutual agreement. To that end, you are far more useful to me as a bargaining chip than as a corpse.”
Crystal still hadn’t spoken or looked at me. She was watching Richard, and something told me that she was in telepathic contact with him. She was probably eavesdropping on my conversation with Anne too. Can you kill Sarque before he pushes that button? I asked Dark Anne.
Maybe.
Think about doing it and I’ll check the futures.
“Yeah, nice offer,” Sal Sarque said. “I’ll make you a better one. You come over here and we see how many of you we can kill.”
Dark Anne was doing as I’d asked, and I watched as the futures branched, her attacks overlapping within a narrow band as she tried to disarm Sarque. In a very few futures, she was able to beat him to the draw. The rest ended in a bang.
“Is this how you want your time on the Council to end?” Richard asked. “Blowing yourself up in a useless gesture?”
“I get to take you and your cabal with me. Sounds good to me.”
“Maybe we should—” Solace began nervously.
“Shut up,” Sal Sarque said.
I’d kept my mental link with Dark Anne open. Can you reach Sarque’s finger muscles with a spell?
Not faster than he can push that button.
“Well,” Richard said. “It appears we are at an impasse.”
The futures in which the bomb went off were growing. Richard didn’t seem inclined to break the stalemate, but Rachel was another story. I needed more time.
Okay, let’s kill two birds with one stone. “So since we’re waiting around anyway,” I said to Richard, “how about a chat?”
Richard raised an eyebrow at me. “Now?”
I shrugged. “Well, you don’t seem like you’re going to be killing Sarque in the next five minutes.” Come on, Richard. You always seemed to know the next move. Play along.
Richard paused very briefly, then nodded. “Very well.”
“Great,” I said. “I’d like to change my answer to that last offer of yours. I’d like to join your organisation as your fourth-in-command.”
“No!” Rachel shouted.
Richard waved a hand down. He was keeping Sarque in his peripheral vision, but seemed focused on me. “That’s quite a specific request,” he said. “But I seem to recall you already turned down that offer.”
Okay, this is the best I can come up with, Dark Anne told me. How’s it look?
Looking at the futures, I could see that she’d prepared some kind of spell that would attack Sarque’s nervous system. No good. You need to be about half a second faster. “I’ve reevaluated my priorities,” I told Richard.
“I’m curious as to how,” Richard said. “You gave me quite an emphatic explanation as to why you were unwilling to cooperate.”
“I knew you were a traitor!” Solace shouted at me.
“You and your boss have been trying to drive me off the Council ever since I joined,” I told Solace. “Congratulations, you’ve succeeded.” I turned back to Richard. “Well, that’s kind of the thing. If you remember, my big sticking point wasn’t so much to do with you, it was to do with her.” I nodded towards Anne. “I don’t have any remaining loyalty to the Council. I didn’t have much before, and Sarque and his friends have managed to destroy what little was left. But I am still loyal to Anne. And as far as I can see, the way things are now, the only way I can stay with her involves working with you.”