Hermes blinked, then curled up next to me and settled down. His fur was a solitary patch of warmth against the cold.
The wind blew, chilling my wet clothes. The image of Sonder’s death played over and over in my mind; again and again I saw that deadly green flicker, watched him slump lifeless to the stone.
Sonder and I had been friends once. I’d met him the same year I’d met Anne, and for a few months Sonder and Luna and Anne and Vari and I had formed a little group of five, meeting in my flat in the Camden evenings to laugh and talk and play board games. My friendship with Sonder hadn’t lasted, but it had never quite been forgotten, a lingering memory of happier times.
And now he was dead, and the fact that he was dead at Anne’s hands made it so much worse. For the first time since we’d entered the shadow realm, I felt helpless. What was I supposed to do?
It was maybe forty-five minutes after the explosion when Luna came picking her way through the wreckage. ‘Jesus,’ she said, looking around at the devastation. ‘I thought they were exaggerating.’
I pulled my eyes up to look at Luna. She looked like she’d been through a lot, but she didn’t seem hurt. ‘What happened at the tombs?’
‘We won, I suppose,’ Luna said. ‘Though it doesn’t feel like it.’
‘Losses?’
‘I didn’t stick around for the count,’ Luna said with a grimace. ‘Makes me feel like a bit of a coward. But seeing it was bad enough. At least ten or fifteen of those men we went in with are dead. Because of Sagash, mostly. That black sun was horrifying. I think it would have been even worse except Landis and Tobias managed to push him back just long enough for Jiyeong to sabotage those controls. The moment she did, Caldera and Sagash stopped attacking, just like that. Caldera opened up a hole in the wall and they did a disappearing act.’
I nodded.
Luna hesitated. ‘Is it true about Sonder?’
I nodded again.
Luna looked shocked. ‘I got told over the comm, but . . . Anne would do something like that?’
‘It’s not Anne any more,’ I said tiredly.
‘He probably thought he was picking the safest place,’ Luna said. She looked sad. ‘Only group that wasn’t supposed to be in combat. Poor Sonder. He always did try to stay away from fights.’
We sat in silence for a little while.
‘So Vari’s got the monkey’s paw,’ Luna said.
I nodded.
‘That was what you meant last night, wasn’t it? I was wondering why you weren’t pushing more to get that weapon off Richard.’
Nod.
‘Damn it,’ Luna said. She paused, then shrugged. ‘Well, we’ll just have to figure something out.’
Luna kept trying to talk but I didn’t have much to say and eventually she got up and left. I knew I should do the same, but I couldn’t muster the energy.
I was still sitting by the pond when Landis came striding over. ‘Ah, Verus, there you are,’ he said. He gave Hermes an inquisitive look. ‘Is that a blink fox? Fascinating.’
Hermes tilted up his muzzle and blinked.
Landis squatted down next to us and offered his hand for Hermes to sniff. ‘Losses from the tombs are nineteen dead, including two Keepers,’ he told me, his voice brisk and business-like. ‘Fourteen more seriously wounded, some of whom will almost certainly die in the next twelve hours if we can’t get them back to the healers at the War Rooms. Chop-chop, Verus, no time to sit about.’
‘We just put everything we had into that attack, and we’re right back where we started,’ I told Landis. There was an edge in my voice. ‘What do you want to do, find another accumulator and do it all over again?’
Landis held up one finger and recited:
‘If you can make one heap of all your winnings,
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss.’
‘I’m not really in the mood,’ I told him.
‘I understand the men stationed here took casualties,’ Landis said. ‘You took command of them, I believe. So what are you doing sitting out here?’
I looked at Landis resentfully.
Landis met my gaze with clear, calm eyes. ‘Footsoldiers are allowed to complain and feel sorry for themselves. Commanders are not.’
‘I’m not in command.’
‘You entered this shadow realm in order to save Anne and Variam, and to prevent Drakh and the marid from carrying out their plans. Is that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘Has that changed?’
‘No . . .’
Landis nodded, then touched my clothes with one finger. Fire magic pulsed; the water soaking my clothes and hair evaporated into warm vapour. In an instant, I was completely dry.
Landis straightened. ‘Then get to work.’
I looked up at Landis, then down at Hermes. The fox gazed up at me and blinked.
‘All right,’ I said. I pulled myself to my feet.
Landis and I started back towards the castle. Hermes shook himself and trotted after us.
‘Right, Rain,’ Landis said. ‘Let’s hear it.’
We were back in Landis’s ready room, looking over the projection table. The focus had been zoomed in to show the north-east of the castle, a closely packed area of tall buildings overlooking small courtyards. It looked tighter and more confined than the areas we’d fought in before. The north and east sides of the projection showed the castle’s edge; to the south and west was an irregular arc of blue marking the positions of Rain’s men.
‘Drakh’s forces have gone to ground here,’ Rain said, his voice slightly tinny through the speaker. His figure was a small holographic projection floating next to the castle; unlike Landis and me, he was on site. ‘Scouting reports put his numbers between a hundred and thirty and a hundred and fifty.’
‘Composition?’
‘Some mages, but the majority seem to be adepts.’
‘All the rest will be adepts,’ I said. ‘Don’t expect any normals.’
‘Current status?’ Landis asked.
‘They didn’t contest the perimeter or the interdiction field, but they’ve pushed back hard the couple of times we tried to probe,’ Rain said. ‘We haven’t forced it since Nimbus’s orders were to keep them pinned. And speaking of, where the hell is Nimbus? I’ve been trying to contact him and all I get is orders to hold.’
‘We’ve heard no more than you,’ Landis said. ‘Can you hold?’
‘Against the adepts, sure,’ Rain said. ‘The problem’s Vihaela.’ He made a gesture and half a dozen target marks appeared on the map, spread out over his forces. ‘She’s been sniping at us ever since we moved in and she’s deadly. We’ve lost one Keeper and sixteen security just to her. All dead, no wounded. She pops up somewhere we’re not expecting, kills one before we even know she’s there, kills another as the rest scatter, then vanishes.’ Rain’s projection turned its head towards Landis. ‘She’s picking us apart and it’s wearing down morale. No one wants to stick their heads out. And when they ask me what the plan is, all I can do is tell them to sit tight.’
‘We’ll have to—’ Landis paused and put a hand to his ear, then looked at Rain. ‘It’s Nimbus.’
‘About bloody time.’
Landis strode out of the room and began speaking quietly into the focus. ‘How’s Vihaela moving around without your mages spotting her?’ I asked.
‘Wish I knew,’ Rain said. ‘Between our Keepers, we’ve got mindsight, lifesight, deathsight, detection for air and cold and heat and at least three things more, and Vihaela’s not showing on any of them. She’s flitting from one side of the perimeter to the other without anyone noticing. We could use your help.’