Alex Verus 5: Hidden

by Benedict Jacka

  “Better,” Morden said when I didn’t answer. “I understand you have an interest in Anne?”

  “As do you, last I heard. Do you happen to know where she is?”

  “What are you offering?”

  “I’m not going to work for you.”

  “Really? I’d hoped you’d reconsidered.”

  I took a breath. “Morden,” I said. “Exactly how many times does that sociopathic Chosen of yours have to try to kill me before you register that it might be a problem?”

  “I’d really hoped the two of you could work out your differences,” Morden said. “Ah, well. Someone else has a prior claim.”

  “You don’t know where Anne is either, do you?”

  Morden shook his head. “Your fishing attempts are actively painful to watch. Enough games. I do not know Anne Walker’s location, but fortunately for you I have my own interests in her well-being. By this time tomorrow, I will know where she is and why, and I will take my own measures. Go home, Verus. You and your Keeper friend. I will take care of this from here.”

  I stared at Morden, trying to work out if he was telling the truth.

  A flicker of movement from the direction of the entrance caught my eye, and as I looked towards the front entrance a nasty feeling went through my gut. There was someone crossing the floor wearing a mask and an outfit very similar to mine, and from his body language he looked extremely unhappy about something. If he’d just had to get past a group of Jagadev’s guards, all of whom had been under the impression that they’d let him in already, I could understand why. A strange two-tone bell sounded, echoing through the club, and people looked up.

  “Avis seems a little upset,” Morden said as I stood there, hesitating. “Tell me, is there anyone at this audience whom you haven’t managed to aggravate?”

  “The ones I haven’t met?” Several of Jagadev’s men were moving in a purposeful way towards the front entrance. That chime had sounded a lot like an alarm . . . almost as if Avis had had to fight his way in . . . in which case they’d be looking for someone dressed exactly like . . . “Got to go,” I told Morden. “Later.”

  “Have you made your choice yet?”

  I’d moved past Morden, but that made me pause. “What?”

  Morden was watching me, his head tilted slightly. “He won’t wait forever, you know.”

  Something about the words made my hair stand on end. I backed away, not taking my eyes off Morden, and the Dark mage watched me go. I put a pillar between us and started walking fast.

  As I headed for the stairs, I switched back to Luna and Sonder’s circuit. “—trying,” Sonder was saying.

  “Can you hurry this up?” Luna said. “Running out of time here.”

  “I . . .” Sonder paused again. It sounded like he was using one of his spells, but his voice didn’t have the usual sureness it does when he’s seeing into the past. “I’m not sure.”

  “You’re not sure, what?”

  “Time’s up,” I broke in, broadcasting only to Luna. “Luna, we’re going.”

  “Fine,” Luna said. “I’m thirty seconds out.”

  “Good, I’ll—shit. Wait a sec.” Avis was heading straight for the stairs. I cut the connection and tried to figure out if I could get past him. No good, the stairway wasn’t wide enough. I moved past, heading for the nearest corner—

  —and Onyx was right on the other side. I scanned left and right for ways to avoid him and realised with a sinking heart that he was standing still. If he’d been moving in literally any direction I could have dodged him, but I couldn’t sneak past on an open balcony. Below, I knew that Avis was just about to start up the stairs. I had maybe twenty seconds to get out of sight.

  I looked around, thinking fast. There was a doorway set into the wall but the room beyond was a dead end. If I went back the way I came I’d run straight into Morden, and eventually Sagash and Caldera. I could hide, but that meant giving up any control over whether I’d be found. I looked into the futures in which I got spotted by Onyx and Avis. Both were about ready to kill me on sight.

  Kill on sight . . . I stopped. Wait a minute . . .

  Ten seconds. I moved to the corner, snatched up a wooden statuette from the table, waited two seconds for Onyx to turn his head the other way, then stepped around the corner and threw. Two other Dark mages whipped their heads around as the statuette described a neat ballistic arc before hitting Onyx in the back of the head.

  Onyx staggered but recovered almost instantly, whirling around as a transparent bubble of force flashed into existence around him. He stared at me, then down at the statuette, then up at me again. I think the sheer ridiculousness of it threw him for a second; no one does that kind of thing to a Dark mage. I figured he needed some extra motivation, so I gave him the finger just to make my feelings clear.

  That did the trick. Onyx’s eyes lit up with fury, and as his hands came up I jumped back around the corner and darted into the room. Just as I got inside, Avis appeared at the top of the stairs, turning in my direction. I held dead still as Avis stalked by outside, passed my hiding place, and turned the corner to where Onyx was waiting.

  There was a moment’s silence, then the flat wham of a force spell and Avis went flying straight out over the club floor. He clipped the railing on his way over, but his shield was already up and it only sent him tumbling. Avis didn’t fall but kept going horizontally, doing two full backflips before steadying himself to hover in midair, grey light gathering at his hands, storm-winds whipping at his hair and clothes. He threw out an arm and something translucent flashed out just in time to meet Onyx’s second strike.

  I was already running, using the brief moment of distraction to make it to the stairwell. I raced down the stairs three at a time, sending Dark mages jumping out of the way. A thunderclap shook the room as I made it to the ground floor; Luna was waiting by a side door behind one of the tables, looking up at the battle with wide eyes. “We’re leaving!” I told her as I came to a halt, dumping the contents of a small pouch into my right hand. It sparkled briefly before I closed my fist around it.

  Luna nodded, not taking her eyes off the scene at my back. Behind and above, Avis was still duelling with Onyx, the air mage a blur of motion as he wove through Onyx’s shots; he hadn’t yet noticed me and I wasn’t planning on giving him the chance. I pushed the door open.

  The route Variam had told me about me led through the kitchens and out one of the side doors. It would have been nice if it had been unguarded, but unfortunately Jagadev’s the thorough type and there was a security man standing inside the anteroom. He didn’t carry a visible weapon but I could see a bulge inside his jacket. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said to the two of us. “These are the kitchens.”

  “That’s all right,” I said. I’d slowed before opening the door and now I walked forward in a self-assured sort of way, obviously dismissing the guard. “I know where I’m going.” He wasn’t going for his gun; he couldn’t have been given my description yet. Good.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the guard said again, moving to block my path. I didn’t change course, and he held out an arm to bar my way as I walked into him. “I’m afraid you’ll have to—”

  The guard’s arm blocked his view of what I was doing, and he had only an instant to react before I threw the handful of glitterdust right in his face. Sparkling flecks clung to his eyes, blinding him; he staggered back, hands coming up instinctively. The movement left his lower body open so I kicked him in the groin, then when he doubled over I hit him on the back of his head. He went down hard and I kept going; the whole fight had taken less than two seconds. Luna gave the guy an interested glance and followed.

  We passed through the door and into a wide kitchen full of men and women in aprons. Steam and the scent of food filled the air, and between the din of cooking and the chatter of voices it was hard to hear. Someone shouted something as we reach
ed the other side, but I didn’t turn to look and in only a second we were into the corridor beyond. The route Variam had given us was good, and although I’d been searching ahead to map our way it hadn’t been necessary. The corridor ended in a flight of stairs, and at the top was a fire door. I pushed it open and stepped out into the cool spring night.

  We were in a Soho alley, the sounds of the city all around. Lights glowed from the street at the far end, a narrow window onto a brighter world. Music echoed down the alley, interrupted by a shriek. It sounded like excitement rather than pain . . . probably. “Vari,” I said as I trotted down the steps and turned right. “Two of us coming in cold.”

  “Gating,” Variam said. From the end of the alley I felt a flicker of magic.

  For his gate location Variam had chosen a hulking dark building at the end of the alley. The door was ajar rather than burnt to ashes; apparently even Variam’s capable of being subtle sometimes. “Taxi,” Luna called out as we walked in.

  “You wish,” Variam said. The room was big and dark with metal racks along the walls and ceiling, and he was standing in a corner, the fiery glow of his magic lighting the gloomy interior. “We good to go?”

  “All clear,” I said, shutting the door behind us. I’d been checking for any signs of pursuit, and while it was going to come, it was still a few minutes out. By the time they traced us here there’d be nothing but an empty room. “Calling Sonder,” I heard Luna say into her communicator. “Sonder, everything okay?”

  “What?” Sonder said. He sounded distracted. “No, it’s fine.”

  “Tell Caldera we’re out, okay? Oh, and have fun at the party.”

  Variam’s gate bloomed and took shape in the air in front of him, a fiery ring leading into a place of trees and grass. I stepped through and let it take me away.

  chapter 6

  We gated through a couple of staging points, then returned to my shop. I’d already told Luna to stay the night, and Variam ended up staying as well; given the amount of trouble I’d stirred up, I had the feeling that it might be a good idea to take a few extra precautions for a while.

  I tried raising Sonder on the communicator but couldn’t reach him. Synchronous communicators are supposed to have an unlimited range but the smaller ones don’t work that way in practice; apparently there are some engineering problems that haven’t been worked out. From looking into the futures in which I called them, I could tell Sonder and Caldera were at least still able to answer their phones. I couldn’t really think of anything I could do that wouldn’t risk making matters worse, and in any case I had the feeling it might be a good idea to give Caldera a bit of time to cool off, so I left Sonder a message asking to meet tomorrow. I checked the building defences, spent a while looking into the future for attacks, then once I was reasonably sure no one was going to try to assassinate us during the night I left Luna and Variam to argue over who was going to get dinner and went to bed.

  Even then, I didn’t sleep. I could feel Elsewhere hanging somewhere between waking and dreams, and again I probed the futures in which I travelled there, searching for Anne. Again I couldn’t see any trace of her . . . but then I couldn’t see much trace of anything else, either. My magic is unreliable when it comes to Elsewhere. I’ve always been much better at physical divination than mental; it’s easy for me to see what’ll happen to my body, less so my mind. I’m not sure whether it’s because my talents lean that way or because mental divination is just more difficult. Whatever the reason, the pathways in which I visited Elsewhere felt like shifting sand, and I only felt blurred impressions before they closed off again.

  I could just go to Elsewhere anyway. I could see what I’d find, try to find a way into Anne’s dreams . . . but I had the feeling that was a bad idea. My instincts were telling me that something very nasty could be waiting inside, and over the years I’ve learnt to listen to those feelings. Elsewhere is not a safe place, and I’ve pushed my luck there enough times. I didn’t want to risk it again.

  I was still worrying over it when exhaustion caught up with me and I fell asleep.

  | | | | | | | | |

  I woke early and lay in bed for a few minutes looking out of my window at the sunrise, watching the light creep across the chimneys. When I was fully awake I headed for the bathroom and spent a while re-dyeing my hair. I’d never realised just how much work colouring is. When my hair was somewhere close to its natural shade I emerged into the kitchen.

  Luna was sitting at the table, going through messages on her phone. “Morning,” she said without looking up. “Sonder says he wants us to meet at his flat in an hour.”

  “Good.” I put the kettle on and started making toast. I wasn’t hungry—I don’t eat much when I’m worried—but fuel is fuel.

  “Anything from Elsewhere?”

  I shook my head, leaning against the counter. “I can’t see if she’s there, and I’m afraid to go poking around without a path to follow.” There aren’t many people I would have admitted the last part to, but I’ve come to trust Luna over the past two years. She’s one of the few people I’ve been to Elsewhere with, and she knows exactly how scary it can be.

  “Why can’t you find her?” Luna said. “You found me.”

  “Just because it works with one person doesn’t mean it’ll work with another.”

  “Then why not her?”

  I took the toast out from under the grill and began spreading butter on it. “Maybe she isn’t asleep when I’m trying to do it,” I said at last. “Anne can stay awake for days if she has to. Or maybe she is asleep and I just can’t reach her. Because I don’t know her well enough, because she doesn’t trust me enough, because there isn’t enough of a connection for us to find each other . . .”

  I took the food to the table and sat down. Luna was silent and I knew she’d figured out the third possible reason, the one I hadn’t said out loud. You have to be alive to sleep. I finished my breakfast in silence, and Luna didn’t speak again. Eventually Variam appeared and we headed to Sonder’s flat.

  | | | | | | | | |

  The meeting went a lot less smoothly than the last one.

  Things kicked off with both Sonder and Caldera chewing me out. I’d expected it and pursued my normal strategy for dealing with angry people in a position of authority: avoid a confrontation, don’t commit to anything, and wait. Caldera gave up after only a few halfhearted threats. I think underneath the posturing, she was a bit embarrassed that I’d had to help Sonder out. More surprising was that Sonder actually seemed more angry about the whole thing than Caldera was.

  “We told you not to come!” Sonder said for the third time. He was standing in front of his whiteboard, glaring at me.

  “Strictly speaking, you said you didn’t need us,” I said, leaning back against the wall. I didn’t bring up how he’d needed bailing out within ten minutes of getting through the front door.

  “You knew what I meant!”

  “Well, I didn’t exactly. I mean, you did make it clear that you weren’t expecting to need any extra help, but we never discussed what we were going to do if extra information came up that changed the situation.”

  “There wasn’t any extra information!”

  “Sonder,” Caldera said from where she was sitting. “Let’s move on.”

  “Yeah,” Luna said. To begin with she’d found it hilarious that Sonder and Caldera were reprimanding me, but the joke had obviously gotten old. “What about those apprentices? What did they say?”

  The mention of Sagash’s apprentices was enough to get Sonder’s attention. “They . . .” Sonder hesitated. “It wasn’t any good.”

  “Did they do it or not?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Well, they didn’t talk about Anne.”

  “They recognised her name,” Luna said.

  “Okay, they knew who she
was, but I don’t think they knew anything else.”

  “What else did they say?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Sonder said. “Something about a third apprentice—some other girl. It wasn’t Anne.”

  “That was it?” I asked. “That was all you could see in the whole conversation?”

  “There wasn’t anything else,” Sonder said in annoyance. “Anyway, you were distracting me.”

  I held back my retort, feeling frustrated. Normally when it comes to timesight, Sonder’ll tell you everything you could possibly want to know—the hard part is getting him to shut up. He’d picked a hell of a time to start being uninformative.

  “What about Sagash?” Variam asked Caldera. “You spoke to him, right?”

  “Sagash claims he hasn’t had any contact with Anne since she left his apprenticeship,” Caldera said.

  “Is he lying?”

  “I’m not a mind mage,” Caldera said. “I was asking in my capacity as a Keeper. If Sagash did have Anne, he could have just told me. There’s nothing more I could do without a Council order.”

  “Maybe there was something else he was covering up,” Luna said.

  “He’s a Dark mage, of course there’s something he’s covering up. But there’s no evidence that it’s what we’re looking for.”

  “Jagadev?” I asked.

  “Stonewalled.”

  “What about Crystal?” Sonder said.

  “I got the latest report from the Crystal team this morning,” Caldera said. “I’ll read it more thoroughly later, but the short version is there aren’t any leads connecting her to Anne.”

  “Can’t we just give up on Crystal already?” Variam said.

  I had to hold back a sigh. The whole reason I’d explained where Sonder was coming from to Vari yesterday was so that he wouldn’t push Sonder about Crystal. Vari’s a good guy to have at your back in a fight, but he’s not a great listener.