Alex Verus Novels, Books 1-4 (9780698175952)

by Jacka, Benedict

  “I think it was a paralysis spell,” Sonder said. “I only saw bits of it but …”

  I nodded. Ice mages are good at that sort of thing. Sonder looked at Arachne’s motionless body. “Could we get someone to heal her?”

  “Maybe,” I said doubtfully. I stuck my hands into my pockets. “We’d have to—”

  I stopped. There was something in my pocket and I drew it out. It was the fang of some enormous creature, made of some kind of grey stone, heavy and warm and eight inches from base to tip. It was a magical item and a powerful one. I’d never seen it before. I’d checked my pockets just after escaping Belthas and they’d been empty. How had it … ?

  “Wow,” Sonder said. He was staring wide-eyed. “What is that?”

  “A gate,” I said. I realised I knew the command word. And it would take me to … “Holy crap,” I said quietly. “It was real.”

  “Where does it lead?”

  “To someone who could fix her.” I looked to see what would happen if I used it and saw that the fang would cut through the gate wards easily. For a one-shot item, it was incredibly powerful. “It’s designed to take two people,” I said. “User and one other … Crap.” As I looked at the consequences, my heart sank. The spell on Arachne was tied into her life force. Gating her would break the spell and sabotage Belthas’s ritual—but it would be fatal for Arachne.

  Sonder looked at Arachne. “Can you—?”

  I shook my head. “Moving her while that thing’s active will kill her.” As I thought about it, though, my spirits rose a little. “But now we’ve got a way to help her. Just got to figure out how.”

  “Why’s it alive?” Cinder said from behind me.

  I didn’t take my eyes off the fang. “She’s not an ‘it.’”

  “Why’s she alive?”

  “Because Belthas wants to use her for your damn ritual.”

  “So why’s she alive?”

  “Because—” I said, then stopped as I realised what Cinder was getting at. The ritual killed its target—I knew that already. So why had Belthas left Arachne here?

  Because she couldn’t be moved. The spell stopped me from moving her but it would stop Belthas from moving her too. The obvious thing for Belthas to do would have been to have completed the ritual here, already. But he hadn’t, which must mean he wasn’t ready. Maybe Garrick hadn’t been there to stop me from escaping. Maybe Belthas had stationed him there to make sure nobody touched Arachne.

  “He’s going to do the ritual somewhere else,” I said. I turned to Cinder. “Deleo knew bits of it, didn’t she?”

  Cinder shrugged. “Bits.”

  I nodded to myself. “That was why Belthas needed her alive. He won’t try the ritual until he’s absolutely sure it’ll work.”

  Cinder looked at me sharply. “So he still needs Del.”

  “Yeah. And he’ll probably keep hold of Luna too.” I saw Sonder perk up.

  Cinder nodded. “Okay. We kill it.”

  “What?”

  “Ritual needs a live target.” Cinder gestured to Arachne. “Kill it, he has to find another. Gives us more time.”

  I stepped between Arachne and Cinder, glaring at him. “No.”

  “Going to be dead anyway,” Cinder pointed out.

  “We are not touching her.” I stared Cinder in the eye. “You want Deleo. Fine. I’ll help. But you don’t touch any of my friends.”

  Cinder met my gaze. There was a considering look in his eyes and I knew what he was thinking. I’m no match for Cinder. If he decided to kill Arachne, I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

  Then Cinder shrugged. “Got a plan?”

  I thought quickly. “Belthas doesn’t know what’s happened yet. We track him down and take him by surprise while he’s got his hands full with the ritual. Shut it down from the other end. We take Luna and come back here to transport Arachne. You take Deleo and go wherever you like.”

  Cinder thought about it for a little while. “How long?” he said at last.

  “Until what?”

  Cinder gestured to Arachne. “Look and see.”

  It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking Cinder’s stupid. He’s slow and deliberate but he’d seen the obvious point I’d missed: by looking into the future to see when Arachne was going to die, we could learn when Belthas was going to finish the ritual. I looked forward and saw the point at which energy would crackle over Arachne, drawing away her magic and with it her life. I looked away quickly. “Five hours.”

  Cinder nodded. “You’ve got four and a half. Then I kill her before he does.”

  We left Arachne’s lair so Cinder could gate us back. I felt better as soon as I was out in the fresh air, and I saw Sonder taking deep breaths, the colour returning to his face. Burnt flesh has a horrible smell, like charred beef but with a nauseating sweetness, thick and putrid and rich. It smells like nothing on earth and you never forget it. Cinder hadn’t shown any reaction. I guess he’s used to it.

  Cinder gated us to the park near my home and we walked the rest of the way. It was the early hours of the morning, and Camden was as quiet as it ever got. My new phone told me it was two A.M.; it had been seven hours since I’d gotten Sonder’s call. It felt like more.

  The first thing I did once I got home was take a shower. It cost precious time but I needed to think clearly and having my body caked with sweat was a distraction. As I stood under the falling water, I tried to figure out how to find Belthas and stop him from killing Arachne before Cinder did.

  I came out of the shower and dressed in combat trousers, a T-shirt, a jumper, and old dark trainers. I filled my pockets with any items I thought would help, then opened my wardrobe and took out my mist cloak. I stroked it affectionately, feeling the soft cloth ripple under my touch, grateful I hadn’t worn it to Arachne’s lair—though I doubt it would have obeyed Belthas anyway. Imbued items choose their owners. I pulled it around my shoulders and walked out.

  It was very weird to see Cinder in my living room. The armchair he’d picked seemed too small for his bulk, and a cup of tea sat untasted on the coffee table before him. Sonder was pacing the carpet. “Trace the rods,” Cinder suggested in his rumbling voice.

  Sonder shook his head. “It’s a sympathetic link. There’s no trail to follow.”

  “He’ll have wards anyway,” I said. I crossed the room to stare through the doors onto the balcony. A few lonely lights still shone in the windows of the buildings opposite, but everything else was dark. The night had clouded over, and there was no moon.

  “Where would Belthas have taken them?” Sonder asked. He looked on edge, harried.

  “A sanctum,” I said. I was sure of it. “He won’t do something this important except somewhere he feels absolutely safe.”

  “Get your elemental to find it,” Cinder said.

  “I can’t,” I said sadly. “I blew up my caller getting away from Belthas.” It hurt more than I’d thought it would. Without that focus I didn’t have any way of contacting Starbreeze, and only now she was gone did I realise how much I’d depended on her. Starbreeze had always been my ace in the hole, the one I turned to when everything else failed. Losing that safety net all of a sudden was frightening.

  “Okay, look,” Sonder said. “Someone has to know where Belthas is hiding. Let’s call up everyone we know.”

  I nodded, trying to look confident. It was worth a try, even if I didn’t really think it would work.

  It didn’t. There were only a few mages I trusted enough to call in this situation, and at this hour many didn’t answer. Those who did were willing to help but they didn’t know anything this specific. With enough time I could dig it up … but time was something we didn’t have.

  Sonder and Cinder didn’t have any more success. I saw Cinder glance at the time as he hung up from another call and I checked it as well, unobtrusively. Three hours left. I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t going to let it end this way.

  “We could try his office …” Sonder said again.

&n
bsp; I shook my head. “First place I looked. He’s not there.”

  “There might be some leads.”

  “And a bunch of security systems. We don’t have time to get caught up fighting them.”

  Sonder turned away in frustration. “There has to be someone.”

  I was about to answer when I realised what Sonder had just said. “There is,” I said slowly, my mind jumping ahead. “There’s someone who’d know. Luna.”

  Sonder looked at me, puzzled. “But we can’t—”

  “I can,” I said, thinking fast. “Cinder, I need you to gate back to Arachne’s lair and get those weapons. Bring as many as you can carry. Then get some of your own. I’ve got the feeling we’re going to need all the firepower we can get.”

  Cinder tilted his head, shrugged, and walked out.

  “Sonder, come with me.” I walked into my bedroom, Sonder following. I lowered the lights, then lay down on the my bed, carefully arranging the cloak under me. “Wake me in an hour,” I said. “If I don’t wake up … well, you’ll have to improvise.”

  Sonder looked confused for a second, then his eyes went wide. “Wait, you’re going there?”

  “Shh,” I said quietly. It was hard to relax but I knew I had to. Turning my head to one side, I could see the blinking lights of my alarm clock. Two hours fifty minutes. I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep and beyond. The cloak seemed to help, soft and drowsy. I felt my mind slipping away. My last thought was to hope Cinder had shut the door behind him.

  chapter 9

  It’s not difficult to reach Elsewhere. It doesn’t even take magic, though most people think it does. It usually takes newcomers a few tries, but once you’ve done it, you can always go back. Travelling there the first time seems to set up some kind of bond that lets you always feel it in your thoughts, somewhere in the twilight between waking and dreams.

  Leaving Elsewhere … well. That can be a little harder.

  I’ve been to Elsewhere but I don’t understand it. On past journeys I’ve done things on instinct and had them work without knowing how or why. One of the few things I’m sure of is that Elsewhere changes depending on who comes to it. When I visit Elsewhere, it always takes the same form: a great, silent city, plazas and colonnades and high walkways bathed in bright white light. Empty but not dead, only sleeping.

  But this time would be different. As I looked into the futures of travelling to Elsewhere, I knew Luna was there already; I’d known as soon as I’d looked into the futures of travelling there. The stories say that there’s nothing dangerous in Elsewhere except what you bring with you—but that can be more than enough. The Elsewhere I was about to see would be one shaped by Luna. I didn’t know what it would be like but I was about to find out.

  I opened my eyes.

  I was standing in a maze of crystal passages, all alike. The walls pressed in around me but I wasn’t underground; by craning my neck upwards, I could glimpse sky. As I looked around I realised I was in a network of canyons, crooked and twisted. The walls, rocks, and even the ground were translucent crystal. The sky above was overcast and grey, thick clouds blocking out the sun, yet somehow, even down here in the canyons, there was enough light to see clearly. Distant whispers echoed through the passages, seeming to form words just on the edge of hearing.

  I turned slowly, studying the landscape around me. I didn’t sense any danger, but it wasn’t comfortable, either. Somehow I had the feeling I wasn’t welcome here. I started walking, my footsteps echoing about the ravines.

  The first time I came to Elsewhere I was nearly lost forever. Geography doesn’t work as it does in our world and not even divination magic can help you if you’re led astray. Everything is different in Elsewhere, and what’s strong outside can be weak within. The same sources of strength and power we rely on in our world still function here … but somehow they never seem to work the way you want them to. I didn’t try to use my magic. I knew where I wanted to go: to Luna. The direction didn’t matter.

  As I walked I noticed that the crystal of the walls and outcroppings was more varied than I’d thought. It ranged from nearly opaque to clear enough that I could see several feet in, and the colour of the crystal ranged from blue to grey to clear white. One patch caught my eye, coloured a brilliant azure. As I passed I reached out for it … and snatched my fingers away just in time. Although it radiated no cold, the crystal had the icy chill of a glacier, enough to freeze flesh. I carried on, keeping a more respectful distance.

  The canyon widened as I walked, the glimpses of sky becoming more frequent, until finally the sides curved away, opening up to give me a clear view. Before me was a wide, open bowl, a vast, shallow depression in the ground. The cliffs formed a ring around it and at the centre was a palace of crystal, sharp spires pointing upwards into a brooding sky. A thick canopy of cloud cut off all trace of sun, the layer of grey drifting steadily across the sky from right to left. I altered my course for the palace and kept on going.

  The palace was surrounded by acres of broken crystal. The doors were open, leading into a long entrance hall, thick pillars rising up to a vaulted ceiling. It was darker in here and the side passages were covered in shadow. Only when I was in the middle of the room did I realise the whispers had stopped.

  I saw movement from the corner of my eye and turned sharply. For an instant I thought I saw a flash of something disappearing behind a pillar, then everything was still. I stood motionless, listening. The hall was silent … but something in the silence had changed. It was the silence of something holding its breath.

  I thought of going after it but some instinct warned me that would be a bad idea. I waited a moment longer, then when nothing moved I carried on down the hall, slower this time. I half-expected something to jump me, but I reached the doors at the end safely. They opened at a touch.

  Luna was inside. The room within was huge and circular, a ring of columns going up and up into the shadows, and Luna was at the very centre upon a wide dais. As I headed for her I noticed at the back of my mind that the whispers had started again.

  Luna didn’t react as I approached. She was kneeling, staring into a tall silver mirror that reflected not her image but only a grey mist. She wore a white dress, and as I approached I saw that her lower legs were frozen in crystal. It seemed to have grown up around her, a thin layer spiderwebbing over her ankles and knees, reaching up towards her lower body. The mist in the mirror shifted at the edge of my vision, hinting at something within, inviting me to look. I hesitated, then took hold of Luna’s arms and pulled her to her feet.

  The crystal shattered, splintering like glass, and Luna stumbled upright, shaking her head as if she’d just come out of a trance. She looked up at me and her eyes lit up.

  I grabbed Luna in a bear hug, holding her close. She made a protesting noise, but I didn’t care. Elsewhere is the one place Luna’s curse is dormant, and as I held her I felt something tense and wound-up inside me ease. Only now did I realise how afraid I’d been for her.

  Gradually I realised Luna was trying to talk. I looked down. “Hm?”

  “Can’t breathe!”

  “Right.” I relaxed my grip and looked down at her. “Better?”

  Luna pulled back. “The caves—you got out?”

  “I got out.”

  Luna sighed in relief and leant her head against my chest. “Thank God.”

  I stroked Luna’s hair. It felt good to hold her. “Were you looking for me?”

  Luna nodded. “Like the last time,” I said. “Was that where you got the idea?”

  “I couldn’t find you.”

  “It’s hard to bring someone into Elsewhere if they’re awake. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Luna pulled back again and looked up at me, her smile gone. “He’s going to kill Arachne.”

  “I know,” I said. “We’ve only got a few hours. Where did he take you?”

  “A manor house in the mountains. Belthas brought everyone here. Me, all his guards, that woman �
�” Luna’s face darkened. “…and Martin.”

  “Where are you?”

  “In the basement. A cell. They locked me in and left me.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath. This was the million-dollar question. “Do you know where it is?”

  Luna shook her head and my heart sank. “It was too dark,” Luna said. “There weren’t any lights. It’s somewhere deserted, no towns, but …”

  “But that’s not enough.” I tried to think of all the deserted, mountainous places Belthas could have set up a base. Hopeless. Even in Britain, there were thousands. Finding it would take days, weeks. “Did you see a landmark? Anything that would give us a location?”

  “No. But I think I know who did.”

  I looked at her in surprise. “Deleo,” Luna said. “She’s in the cell next to mine.”

  “Did you talk to her?”

  Luna shook her head. “I saw her.” A shadow passed across Luna’s face. “She looked bad. I think they were … getting information from her. For the ritual. She wasn’t awake. Asleep, a coma … I thought we could talk to her. I don’t know how to stop Belthas, but maybe she does.”

  I thought about it for all of five seconds. I’d never tried bringing more than one person into Elsewhere, and if I had, I wouldn’t have picked Rachel … and none of that mattered since I didn’t see how we had any choice. “Why not,” I said. “I’m relying on one psychotic Dark mage, might as well make it two.”

  Luna gave me an odd look. “What do you—?”

  “Tell you later.” I started walking again, leading Luna towards the edge of the room. “Um,” Luna said. “Where are we going?”

  “To Deleo.”

  “Okay.” Luna thought for a second. “Where is she?”

  “Up to you.”

  Luna looked at me. After a second, she realised I was serious.

  The pillars ahead turned out to be masking a tunnel into another hallway. “What did you mean about a Dark mage?” Luna said.

  “Sonder brought along some muscle.”