Haken hadn’t caught up yet. “Look, the way Levistus sees it, we can still keep a lid on this. The others think you’re dead. Okay, we can work with that. That’ll stall the investigation long enough to let us work out something—”
“Sorry, Haken,” Vihaela said. “I’m afraid you and Levistus are a couple of steps behind.”
Haken frowned. “What are you—?”
Light flashed from the small of Haken’s back, magic surging at close range. Haken jerked, his spine arching, then collapsed to the ground.
“Fire mages.” Vihaela shook her head, looking down at Haken. “So easy to misdirect.”
Cerulean materialised out of thin air where Haken had been standing, slipping something back into his pocket. His invisibility was flawless: even with my magesight, I hadn’t picked up any trace of his presence. Two figures came marching out of the darkness; they were the same humanoid constructs that had accompanied Vihaela’s decoy in Bank. “Pick that up,” Vihaela said, pointing down at Haken. The constructs moved to obey and she turned to Cerulean. “Where’s Verus?”
“He couldn’t have gated,” Cerulean said. The constructs lifted Haken; focusing on him I could tell that he was unconscious but still alive. “Wards didn’t trigger. Shroud?”
Vihaela frowned. “This isn’t a good time for distractions.”
“I’ve told the team that Haken’s MIA and Verus is the suspect,” Cerulean said. “Should keep them busy a while.”
Well, shit. That was going to make my life a lot harder.
“Find him anyway,” Vihaela said. She glanced around at the gardens. “You know, I might actually miss this place.” Her voice was thoughtful, and she kept gazing around for a few seconds more before turning to walk away. The constructs followed, carrying Haken between them.
I watched the group disappear into the darkness. As soon as they were gone, I backed slowly away, then turned and started hurrying through the trees. I could still hear voices in the distance, and the flicker of lights. I wasn’t worried about any of the men finding me the regular way, but I was pretty sure a slaver group would have more than just torches.
I ducked into another bush and crouched down in the darkness. I pulled out my phone and started to activate it, then frowned. No signal. I flicked through the futures, trying different numbers—all nothing. They must have a jammer of some kind. I looked into the futures in which I used a gate stone. A minute or two to get the spell working, and . . . oh, goddamn it. Cerulean hadn’t been bluffing about the wards either.
I’d suspected that Haken was going to pull something like this—that was why I’d brought the fire-hunger stone and the mist cloak. My plan had been to wait for him to tip his hand, learn what I could, then bug out. Unfortunately, I’d been counting on either being able to gate away, or get a message to Luna and the others.
A sound rose up from the direction of the house, making my head snap around. It was a low-pitched, throaty arrh-arrh-arrh, something like what you’d get if you crossed a dog and a giant crow. I remembered what Vihaela had said about “sniffers” and a nasty feeling formed in my stomach. My mist cloak’s great against magic, but it doesn’t do anything against tracking by scent.
Plan C. I rummaged around in my bag for the serrated blue disc of my communication focus. I channelled into it, strained myself to give it a bit of extra energy, and waited.
A second later I heard Caldera’s voice from the disc. “Who is this?”
Damn, that’s loud. I wished this one had a volume control like the later models. “Keep your voice down.”
“Verus?” Caldera sounded suspicious. “Is that you?”
I could hear voices behind me to my left. They were getting closer. “It’s me.”
“How do you have a synchronous focus?”
“Not the time. I could really use some help here.”
“Yeah, no kidding. What’s going on with Haken?”
“He’s in deep shit and I’m not doing so well either. Any chance of some backup?”
“Orders are for you to come in—”
“I know. You got a call within the last half hour, telling you that Haken’s MIA and that I’m to be arrested under suspicion of being involved. Right?”
“So are you going to do it?”
“Can’t.”
“If you don’t—”
“I’m not saying I won’t, I’m saying I can’t. I’m at White Rose’s base and they’ve got sink wards. Listen, I didn’t do anything to Haken. He was dealing under the table with Vihaela and got burned. Cerulean’s the mole, not me. White Rose has got Haken, and they’re after me too. I need you to get the others and gate to the beacon from my communicator.”
“That’s not an option.”
A sound went up into the night, the same throaty arrh-arrh-arrh. It was closer this time. I looked over in the direction, then huddled down, biting off my words. “Listen. This is me calling for help. I need you guys here.”
There was a silence. It could only have been a few seconds, but it felt like more. “I can’t,” Caldera said. “Orders are to bring you in. I can’t gate to your position on your say-so.”
“Then call Vari or Landis or someone who can!”
“I can’t do that either. You’re asking me to disobey a direct order.”
“Fuck the orders! If you wait for clearance, then Haken and I are going to be dead by the time you get it!”
I heard a shout from close by. I snatched a look around the tree and swore quietly. Two shapes were moving down the bank, torch beams searching in my direction. They’d heard me talking and I’d been too distracted by the conversation with Caldera to see them coming. “Verus?” Caldera said. “What’s going on?”
Caldera hadn’t kept her voice down. The torches zeroed in and I ducked back behind the tree before they could blind me. I heard a man’s voice, and undergrowth cracked as heavy footsteps headed in my direction.
I took a deep breath and bent my head over the communicator. “Caldera. I know I’ve done things to piss you off and there have been times I haven’t told you everything. But I’ve never actually lied to you and I’m telling you the truth now. I can’t handle this on my own. Please. I don’t know how much longer—”
Danger. I dropped the focus and turned just as the first man came around the side of the tree. His flashlight was up: he’d been expecting me to flee, and the ferocity of my attack caught him off guard. I hit him in the stomach twice, then as he doubled over, kneed him in the face hard enough to feel something break. I turned on the second man to see him backpedalling and I closed in on him, swift and wolflike. He struck out with what looked like a club; from the futures in which it hit me I knew it would discharge a stunning shock. I let it slide past and caught the arm. The torches were dazzling but narrow-beamed, and the other man couldn’t see what I was doing. I closed my eyes as he shone the light into my face, ducked his attempt to club me over the head, then threw him. The fall knocked the torch and shock stick out of his hands, and while he scrabbled for them I had time to draw my stun focus; he’d just made it to his knees when I discharged the focus into his side. He went down and didn’t get up.
Shouts and lights moved through the trees. My fight hadn’t gone unnoticed, and others were closing in. I ran back to the tree where I’d been hiding, scooped up my pack, and scanned the futures: there were people coming from behind and to the left, and going right would bring me up against the perimeter fence. Forward. I wove through the woods, relying on my second sight to keep me from tripping and falling on my face. A couple of men were at risk of cutting me off: I reached down without breaking stride, scooped up a rock in the darkness, and threw it blind. A few seconds later there was a distant tak as it hit a tree. The futures of the men to my left shifted as they homed in on the noise, leaving me a clear path.