‘Hey, Cinder. Nice to see you again.’ I turned my gaze to the woman with a smile. ‘She did warn you.’
The woman stared, speechless. I turned to Luna, offering my hand. ‘Sorry, I got held up. Shall we go?’
Luna took a glance back at Cinder and the woman, then took my hand with barely a pause. The other two stared after us as we walked away, Khazad in tow.
‘That was awesome,’ Luna said once we were away. All traces of how she’d been outside were gone; she looked alert and glowing.
‘Are they following us?’
‘No — yes. Through the crowd.’
‘Okay. Break left … now.’ We slipped behind a group of people. From the other side I could just hear hurrying footsteps as Cinder and the woman came walking quickly after us, fading away as we doubled back.
Khazad was still walking aimlessly by my side, guided by my arm around his waist. Luna tilted her head to look into his eyes, then waved her fingers in front of his face. He didn’t respond. ‘What happened to him?’
‘Same thing he was about to do to you.’ I lifted his right hand and pointed to the needle clutched in his fingers. It was about eight inches long, made of some kind of silvery metal, tipped with a dot of blood where it had driven into Khazad’s arm. ‘Enchantment effect, kind of like magical Rohypnol. They were going to use it on you, then walk you out the front door.’
Khazad’s eyes were vacant; without me to guide him, he just stood there. Relaxed, his face was harsh and cruel. Luna peered over to look at him while I went through Khazad’s pockets. He was carrying another of the needles along with a few other things that looked like weapons, but no written instructions or anything that would give me a hint as to which spell they’d been using to track Luna. Damn.
‘Can he hear us?’ Luna asked.
‘Probably.’ I glanced back over my shoulder. We’d swerved away from the dance floor towards the other side of the hall and had ended up next to a fountain of steel and stone that bubbled with clear water. A minor illusory effect played over the water causing it to flicker through the colours of the rainbow: red to yellow to green to blue and back again. ‘We’d better dump him before he slows us down.’
I sat Khazad down on the edge of the fountain and slapped him in the face twice, hard. A few people gave me curious looks but you can get away with a lot if you’re blatant enough. I’d just gone through his pockets in full view of all the guests and gotten nothing more than a few funny looks. ‘Khazad,’ I said clearly. ‘Can you hear me?’
Khazad’s eyes were still vague, but I could sense a presence behind them this time, something looking at me with a distant hatred. This was the second time I’d gotten the better of him and, even with the magic scrambling his thoughts, I could feel how much he wanted to kill me. ‘That’s twice you’ve tried,’ I said. I looked into his eyes as I spoke, keeping contact. ‘This is your last chance to walk away. You understand? One chance. Pull anything like this again, on either of us, and I’ll see you dead.’
Khazad glared at me, unable to speak. I could sense the two Dark mages approaching from behind. I straightened and walked away, and the two of us disappeared into the crowd, the noise and bustle swallowing us. The music of the band faded as we put some distance between us and the dance floor.
‘Are they still coming?’ Luna said once we were away. She was craning her neck, trying to look in every direction at once.
‘Yeah.’ Now they weren’t heading straight for us I couldn’t predict their movements so easily, but I knew they’d be back.
‘How did they find me?’
‘They spent today at your flat. Could they have found anything from your body? Hair, nail clippings, blood?’
‘No — yes. Some hairs from my pillow, maybe the bathroom …’
I nodded. ‘If you have something that was once a part of someone, you can put together a tracer spell that works through just about anything. No chance of it failing on its own. We’re going to need something stronger.’
Luna nodded. ‘What do we do?’
‘Head for the games area. Keep going towards those pillars at the back.’
As we crossed the hall, I led Luna in a looping, swerving course. Most divination spells are directional, and if Cinder or whatshername were trying to anticipate Luna’s movements, this would slow them down. We passed knots of people, fountains, more of the white-masked servants, the buzz of laughter and conversation filling the air. The sphere arena had quieted down; a new match would probably start soon. My eyes tracked up to what looked like a blank stretch of crystal wall above the arena and between the balconies, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Levistus was behind that wall, and somehow I knew he was watching me.
‘Alex?’ Luna asked as we walked.
‘Hm?’
‘Did you mean it?’
‘What?’
‘Khazad. When you said you’d kill him.’
‘I meant it.’
Luna walked for a little while in silence. ‘Thank you,’ she said eventually.
I looked at her in surprise, then smiled slightly. ‘You did well back there.’
Luna looked taken aback, then flushed. She was about to say something when a voice spoke from in front, interrupting. ‘Hi!’
I looked up to see a girl smiling at me. She was young, maybe eighteen or nineteen, and beautiful enough to be a model. Long, shining gold hair hung down her back, and she wore a low-cut blue silk dress with long slits that showed off her legs. A black ribbon was tied around her neck. ‘You’re Alex Verus, right?’
‘That’s me.’
‘Oh, it’s great to finally meet you!’ She came to a stop nearby, her smile showing a set of perfect teeth. ‘I’m Lisa.’
‘Hi, Lisa.’ I kept walking, leaving her behind.
Lisa blinked, then hurried to catch up, struggling in her high heels. ‘It’s so cool to meet you,’ she said, trying to catch my eye. ‘Everyone’s talking about you.’
‘That’s great.’
‘I’d really like to talk to you.’ Lisa came closer, walking right alongside, looking up at me with inviting blue eyes. ‘Could you come here just a minute?’
Luna had been watching, first in puzzlement, then annoyance. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘I’m here as well.’
Lisa gave her a glance, then turned back to me. ‘Alex? Please?’
‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘We’re busy.’ I took Luna’s hand and gestured to a pillar over the crowd, leaving Lisa behind. ‘That way.’ We turned right around a buffet table and a cluster of people holding drinks.
Luna gave me a searching look. ‘Who was that?’
‘Beats me.’ I pointed towards the pillar. ‘We’re looking for an archway. It’ll be whitish, about seven feet tall. When you see it-’
‘Wait!’ Lisa called from behind. She was hurrying through the crowd after us, looking flustered. I rolled my eyes.
‘Are you sure you don’t know her?’ Luna asked, eyebrows raised.
I sighed. ‘You know, three days ago no one would have looked at me twice. This Mr Popular act is getting old.’
A gap opened in the crowd and I spotted what I was looking for: the azimuth duelling piste. Two slender pillars rose at either end, silvery and delicate, looking like a pair of tuning forks. At our end was an archway of white stone, seven feet high. A mage in ceremonial robes looked up as we approached. ‘Hey. Looking to duel?’
‘That’s okay,’ I said. ‘We just need the annuller.’
The mage gave us a look, then shrugged. ‘Be my guest.’
‘Duel?’ Luna whispered once he was gone.
‘Not a duel,’ I said. I put one hand on the cool stone of the archway and a faint silvery glow started to form across the opening. ‘Watch my back.’