I didn’t wait long.
When Starbreeze arrived I was slumped against one of the pillars. Starbreeze whisked in and hovered over Khazad’s body, looking down with wrinkled nose. She was in her elfin form, short sticking-up hair and skinny arms. ‘Dead man,’ she announced.
‘Dead man,’ I agreed. I pulled myself to my feet, wincing at the pain in my muscles. ‘Starbreeze, I need to get to the heart of this place. The centre. Can you take me there?’
‘Middle?’ Starbreeze said in interest.
‘Middle.’
‘Middle!’ Starbreeze swept around me and turned my body to air. I had one last glimpse of Khazad’s corpse, then Starbreeze whisked me forward, through the gaps in the stonework, carrying me the last stretch of the way.
The heart of the facility was a huge circular room. Columns rose around the edge, supporting a high-domed roof. There were inscriptions of some kind on the walls, but the light was too dim to make them out clearly. On the columns were magelights, weak and widely spaced, leaving the room just bright enough to see in, yet dark enough to cast shadows. The middle of the room was bare except for a dais at the exact centre. Upon the dais was a pedestal. Two figures stood before it.
Starbreeze set me down behind one of the columns, hidden in the darkness. As I scanned the area I felt other presences. We weren’t alone.
‘Alex,’ Starbreeze whispered.
‘I know,’ I said quietly. I peered around the column. Griff and Luna were on the dais at the centre, just visible in the gloom. Luna was standing stiffly upright, as if she was being held, and Griff was close. Too close. There was a small cage of force over the pedestal’s surface, and something was inside it.
‘Men,’ Starbreeze whispered.
‘I know,’ I said again. Griff and Luna weren’t the only ones here. I could sense three more: two hiding in the columns to the left, and one opposite. A moment later, I knew who they were. Cinder and Rachel to the left, and Onyx up ahead. From where they were standing, they could see Griff and Luna, but they couldn’t see each other.
‘Three more,’ I whispered to Starbreeze.
Starbreeze shook her head vigorously. ‘No!’
‘What?’
‘Another.’ Starbreeze pointed towards the ceiling.
I looked up and saw nothing. I scanned the area and again found nothing … and then had a sinking feeling as I realised who it was. ‘Oh. Right. Her.’
‘She’s wrong.’
‘You can feel her?’
Starbreeze shivered. ‘Wrong.’ She swept in a tight circle, looking distressed. I looked into the futures in which I moved forward towards the dais, getting a closer look.
The pedestal on the dais was three feet high, and resting on it was a plain, slim, ivory-coloured wand. A cube of unbreakable force topped the pedestal, just barely visible against the darkness. A moment later, I saw why Griff hadn’t opened it. On the rim of the pedestal, just outside the force barrier, were square holders exactly the right size and shape to place Luna’s cube into, just like the one at the entrance. Three of them.
Griff was up on the dais. He was holding Luna’s arm twisted up behind her back, forcing her onto tiptoes. ‘Think harder,’ he was saying.
‘I don’t know!’
I focused on Griff with my mage’s sight and saw that the silvery mist of Luna’s curse was crammed in so brightly around him that he looked like a searchlight, the glow so intense that it actually made it hard to see. I’d never seen the curse so concentrated, and more and more was pouring in. Griff twisted Luna’s arm a little higher, and she gasped; the silvery mist flowing from her into Griff seemed to intensify. ‘Think harder,’ Griff said again.
‘I don’t know!’ Luna’s voice was high, laced with pain. ‘How could I know? I’ve never been here!’
Griff pushed Luna sprawling to the floor. He lifted a hand, and pale brown energy glowed. The stone of the dais flowed and reshaped itself into chains, locking around Luna’s ankles and binding her to the foot of the pedestal. ‘Well, then,’ he said calmly. ‘We’ve got a problem.’
I snapped back to the present. ‘I’m going to get her.’
Starbreeze looked upset. ‘No!’
I shook my head. ‘Let’s go,’ Starbreeze urged. ‘Away.’
‘Griff’s going to kill her.’
Starbreeze shrugged.
‘You don’t care. I know.’ I looked at Starbreeze. ‘But I do. I need you to send a message. Whispering wind.’
‘Who?’
‘Cinder and Rachel. The two over there.’ I pointed, then leaned close and whispered into Starbreeze’s ear. ‘Cinder, Deleo. It’s Alex Verus. Onyx is waiting in ambush behind the column at the north side of the chamber, ten pillars to the left of where you are now. He’s expecting you to come from the middle.’
There was a moment’s silence as Starbreeze carried the message, then a whisper floated back. ‘Verus, you bastard! How the hell are you still alive?’
I smiled. ‘Hi, Cinder. Before you ask, we’ve still got a common enemy.’
‘You think we owe you anything?’
I didn’t reply. After a second, I heard Rachel’s voice through the whispering wind. ‘Is he moving?’
‘No.’
‘Tell us if he does.’
Then silence. Starbreeze looked at me. ‘Gone.’
I nodded and started to plan my course.
‘Alex!’
I turned to see Starbreeze floating in the air, gazing at me imploringly. She looked miserable, and even with everything else, I felt a sudden stab of pity. Starbreeze is a creature of whim and freedom and ever-changing movement. Violence isn’t in her nature. She was lost here, out of her depth, and I knew her instincts were telling her to flee. One word and she’d take me with her.
‘Sorry, Starbreeze,’ I told her. ‘I can’t run this time.’ I pulled up the hood of my mist cloak and disappeared into the shadows.
As I circled the room, I reached out with all my senses, keeping tabs on the other mages. Onyx was watching and waiting, a spider in his web. Rachel and Cinder were creeping around towards him, and as far as I could tell Onyx hadn’t spotted them. I knew I wouldn’t see Thirteen until she struck, so I didn’t waste time worrying about her. Most of my attention was focused on Luna and Griff. Once I’d circled far enough I stepped into the open, trusting to my mist cloak and my magic to keep me unseen.
I could make out the outline of the fateweaver through the barrier, and for the first time in days, I was calm. All my decisions were made. I would take the fateweaver and use it. If I succeeded, Luna and I would live. If I failed, both of us would die. As I walked softly forward, I wondered if Abithriax was watching us, pieces on the chessboard all fighting for the same prize.
My circling had taken me behind Griff, and as I crept across the open stone I could see that he was focused on Luna. ‘Put the cube in,’ he ordered.
‘I don’t know which!’
There was the thud of a blow landing, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I heard Luna gasp. ‘Figure it out,’ Griff said.
‘I don’t know!’
Another thud, and Luna cried out. I sped up, pushing the limits of how fast I could safely move. Griff knelt down next to Luna, giving me a clear view of her. Luna’s lip was cut, drops of blood staining her skin. She looked up at Griff, afraid, but Griff’s voice when he spoke was suddenly gentle. ‘Luna,’ he said. ‘I really don’t have anything against you. You’re obviously in over your head here, and it looks to me like you don’t have any idea what you’re dealing with.’ Griff looked at her, his voice steady. ‘But you see, I need that barrier opened, and if you can’t do it, you’re no use to me. So I’m just going to keep hurting you until you try.’
‘You said it’d kill me if I pick the wrong one!’
Griff raised his eyebrows. ‘Then you’d better make sure you get it right.’