From the feel of my shoulder, I could tell that the fateweaver had replaced it fully. Its tendrils must be deep into my chest. Well, it didn’t really matter any more. I only needed to last long enough to make it into Elsewhere.
Sagash’s personal quarters were connected directly to the stairs, a vault door leading off from the landing. A squad of jinn stood guarding it. Their gazes tracked me as I came up around the stairs.
I planted the sovnya at my feet and looked up at them. ‘Move or die.’
The jinn stared down with malice in their eyes, but they parted. I climbed the stairs and marched through their ranks. None moved to stop me.
The door was massive, made of solid metal, and ajar. I heaved it open, then stepped through. It swung shut behind me with an echoing boom.
The room within was cylindrical, with a high gallery. Waiting for me on the far side was Anne.
19
Sagash’s duelling arena had two levels: a raised balcony halfway to the ceiling, and a lower floor with a duelling ring marked on the stone. A set of iron stairs joined the two levels, and a door at the far end led into what had once been Sagash’s laboratory.
Anne was on the upper level, bare forearms resting against the balcony rail, the pale skin of her legs and arms standing out against the darkness. This room had been where Anne’s other self had been born. Perhaps today it would be where she’d meet her end.
‘You summoned me, marid,’ I told the sultan. ‘I have come.’
The sultan studied me through Anne’s eyes. ‘I assume this is your work.’
‘I’d call it more of a team effort. But I was co-ordinating, if that’s what you’re asking.’
While I spoke, most of my attention was on path-walking, my thoughts whirling with futures and attack plans. The focus was ready in my left hand. It should be able to stun her . . . if I got close.
I focused on the futures in which I interacted with Arachne’s last gift, the black skater dress that Anne was wearing. I didn’t know if Arachne had seen all the way ahead to this moment, but if she had, she might have modified the imbued item with a back door, some kind of hidden vulnerability that would let me close the distance. I knew it was a long shot. Dark Anne wasn’t stupid – she’d have gone over that dress with a fine-tooth comb – but there was always the chance she might have missed something. I looked into the futures in which I channelled into the dress, evading the flashes of combat to the ones where I tried to activate it . . .
And my heart leapt. There! A latent spell, subtle and well-hidden. And one that could be triggered from range.
‘You think too highly of yourself, human.’ The scornful words of the jinn sounded jarring in Anne’s soft voice. ‘You believe conquering this hovel of a keep is a deed worthy of pride?’
‘Sorry it doesn’t meet your expectations,’ I said. I narrowed my vision into the futures, carefully keeping any trace of excitement out of my voice. ‘But look on the bright side. It’s about to be destroyed anyway.’
‘A suitable fate for the works of your kind.’
I found the future I was looking for, one where I dodged the jinn’s attacks long enough to trigger the spell. I saw it activate, unfolding like a flower. It was powerful but almost impossible to detect, and I looked ahead eagerly to see what it would do. A paralysis effect, or a stun? Or – my hopes leapt – something that would banish the jinn altogether? I might not have to use Elsewhere at all. I could get out of here alive. I focused, my heart pounding. The futures parted and I finally got a clear look. It was a spell of . . .
. . . healing.
Some kind of healing effect designed to repair trauma to the mind and body.
It wasn’t going to disable the jinn. In fact, from what I could see, it would actually make Anne slightly stronger.
I wanted to sigh. Well, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Nothing else today had been easy, why should I expect this to be?
‘And were that not enough,’ the sultan continued, ‘you have required me to go through this whole demeaning process again. Who knows how long it will take to find a new shadow realm and a new set of suitable hosts?’ It frowned at me. ‘In a more just age, I would have the time to punish you appropriately.’
There was one good thing about listening to the marid: there was no way I could hear its words and still have the slightest illusion that I was talking to Anne. Looking at her face still made my heart twist, but as long as I concentrated on the futures and on what I was hearing, I could forget that I was facing the woman I loved.
I put the dress out of my mind. ‘You did say you wanted to talk to me,’ I told the marid. ‘Did you have anything to say, or shall we just skip to the part where we kill each other?’
‘Very well,’ the marid said. ‘You are to become the new bearer for the entity which in your language you call the Sun That Brings Death.’
I blinked. ‘Um, I’m honoured. Mind if I ask what I’ve done to deserve this?’
‘You have done nothing to deserve this,’ the jinn stated. ‘But this host, for reasons that do not interest me, would prefer that you survive. Your opposition bolsters her resistance, which is an irritation that distracts me from more important matters. As such, I have decided that you shall serve at my side. Punishment for your crimes against my person shall be deferred.’
‘Well,’ I said. ‘I’m not quite sure what to say.’
‘I have no interest in anything you might say.’
‘Okay, here’s the thing,’ I said. ‘The British Council have really not given me many reasons to like them, and the Dark mages looking to replace them aren’t any better. So I came in here figuring that I’d at least try talking things out. But honestly, it’s taken less than five minutes of listening to you to make me realise that no matter how bad the Light and Dark mages of this country are, they’re—’
‘Silence,’ the marid said.
I sighed. So much for talking.
The marid pointed to the walkway in front of where it stood. ‘Approach.’
I paused, then shrugged. ‘All right.’
I walked around the gallery. Another tremor went through the keep, making the balcony sway under my feet. ‘Halt,’ the marid said once I was close enough.
I did.
‘Remove your clothes.’
‘Okay, I know you’re possessing the one person who can actually get away with telling me that, but I prefer a little more romance.’
‘Do not test my patience.’
I looked back at Anne – the jinn – and laughed.
The marid waited for me to finish, and when it next spoke there was a flat, dangerous tone to its voice. ‘Your life hangs by a thread.’
I looked at the marid, my smile fading. ‘Oh, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just . . . you have any idea how long I spent coming up with plans to get this close? And it turns out, all I needed to do was follow your orders.’
‘You expect to use that weapon against me?’
‘This?’ I said, lifting the sovnya. ‘No, you’d kill me in a heartbeat. But here’s the thing about humans. We don’t have the powers you marids do, but working together, we can do some pretty impressive things.’
‘None of you can—’ the marid began.
I put every last bit of power into the disruption focus on my left hand and fired.
An impenetrable black-green shield flashed up around Anne. But the spell in the Council focus hadn’t been designed to attack the subject’s body, and as it struck the shield it flowed into it, the black wires of the jinn’s magic acting like conduits into Anne’s mind. Anne’s head jerked back and she fell.