Alex Verus 5: Hidden (12 page)

I was facing out over the main club floor, directly above Morden’s group, and at this point I caught sight of Meredith. She was talking to Onyx, and as I watched she pointed up to the balcony in the direction of the spot we’d last been talking. Onyx turned his head towards me and I ducked back out of sight. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh, what?”

“Change of plan,” I said. Going down to floor level would mean passing Onyx and walking out into the open, neither of which struck me as a good idea just now. “Get Sonder.”

“What for?”

“I’m guessing you asked those apprentices a bunch of leading questions? Odds are as soon as you were out of earshot they started trying to figure out how much you knew. If you can get Sonder there—”

“—then he can look back to see what they said! Let’s do it.”

Looking into the future, I knew that Onyx was heading in my direction. I moved towards the wall and behind the cover of a pillar. “Sonder,” I said. “You there?”

“What?” Sonder said after a pause. He sounded harassed, as though he’d been in the middle of another conversation.

“Got a job for you. Mind helping Luna out with something?”

“Luna— She’s
here
?”

“Bingo,” Luna said over the link. “Meet me at the foot of the stairs, okay?”

“What were you thinking, bringing her here?” Sonder said. “You’re her master, you’re supposed to look after her!”

From the other side of the pillar, I heard quick footsteps as Onyx strode past. Onyx is Morden’s Chosen, slim and deadly; he’s an extremely powerful and specialised battle-mage and he hates my guts. The one bright side (from my point of view) is that he’s
so
specialised a battle-mage that he’s very bad at anything that doesn’t directly involve hurting or killing things, meaning that while he’s very dangerous in a fight, he’s remarkably bad at spotting anyone hiding from him. “Excuse me?” Luna said in annoyance. “I’m older than you are.”

“You’re still only an apprentice. You shouldn’t be here!”

“Since when did you get to—”

Another chime sounded in my ear. “Hold, please,” I said as I emerged from behind the pillar and headed in the opposite direction from Onyx. I switched circuits. “Hello?”

Sonder and Luna’s voices cut out and Caldera’s voice sounded in my ear. She sounded pissed. “Verus, what are you playing at?”

“You know, this isn’t a great time,” I said, taking a glance around. I couldn’t see Meredith but I knew Onyx was coming back for another pass. “Can I call you back?”

“I told you not to go inside!”

“Technically I was inside already.”

“You bloody well knew what I meant!”

“Well, here’s the thing. As you made clear to Variam earlier today, you Keepers have a strict chain of command, and I’m not in it.”

Caldera started swearing. Onyx was heading back towards me and I slipped into a side room. “I am going to kill you,” Caldera said once she was coherent again.

“You might have to get in line,” I said. The communicator chimed again. “Hold, please.”

“No! Where are—”

I switched channels. “Receiving,” I said, then stepped back into the shadows behind a wall hanging.

“Alex?” Variam said into my ear. “Think we might have a problem.”

Onyx appeared in my view through the doorway. He looked as pissed off as Caldera had sounded. He turned his head from side to side, searching, then whirled and headed back the way he’d come. “Someone’s just arrived at the front,” Variam said. “His getup looks really similar to what you’re wearing. Like,
really
similar.”

“Oh, come
on
,” I muttered.
“Now?”

“You made sure the real Avis wasn’t coming tonight, right?”

“I did! Everyone told me he never shows up to these things!”

“Yeah, well, unless he’s got an identical twin you might want to qualify that, because someone who looks exactly like him just walked in the front door.”

“Okay.” I started walking towards the stairs, trying not to make it too obvious that I was hurrying. “I think it’s time to leave.”

“I’ll get to the evac point. Call when you’re a minute out.”

I switched channels again and came in the middle of Sonder and Luna arguing. “—risky,” Sonder was saying. “What if they see?”

“You said they can’t tell if you’re using timesight.”

“They might notice that I’m—”

“Luna, start closing,” I said. “Five minutes, then we’re leaving, back entrance.”

“Got it. By the way, we just ducked Onyx. Seemed like he was looking for someone, know who it might be?”

“Very funny.” Looking ahead, I saw that Caldera was just about to come around the corner ahead of me. “Oh, great.”

“They’re still standing where they were,” Sonder objected. “How are we going to—?”

“Do I have to think of everything?” Luna said. “Alex, I’ll meet you at the door in five.”

“Got it. Alex out.”

Caldera came striding around the corner and fixed me with a look of death. Obviously Sonder had told her what I was wearing. “You!”

“Keeper,” I said formally. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Caldera had been about to start swearing at me again, but my tone brought her up short. Looking from side to side, she saw that two Dark mages were within earshot and both were watching with undisguised interest. “Mage,” she said through clenched teeth. “Would you mind if we spoke privately?”

“I’m afraid I was just leaving,” I said. “How was your meeting with Lord Jagadev?”

“Screw Jagadev!”

In the futures in which I went to the balcony edge and looked over, I could see Onyx talking to Meredith. He looked even angrier if anything, and she didn’t look happy either. He made a cutting motion with his hand; Meredith pointed again in the direction of the balcony. Onyx turned and stormed off towards the stairs. “I doubt you’re his type.”

Caldera took a deep breath, obviously getting herself under control. The futures shifted and I glanced ahead; yet another person I didn’t want to talk to was heading my way. “I recommend you locate your assistant,” I said. “I think he might need assistance himself.”

“What? What have you done now?”

From behind Caldera someone cleared his throat. Caldera turned to see Morden standing behind her. “Keeper,” Morden said. “If it’s not too much trouble, would it be possible for me to speak with Avis?”

Morden put just the tiniest accent on
Avis
—enough to let me know that he knew who I was, not quite enough to make it obvious to Caldera. Caldera knew I wasn’t Avis, but she didn’t know that
Morden
knew I wasn’t Avis . . . this was getting confusing. Caldera gave me a last warning glance, which I returned blandly. “We are going to talk later,” Caldera said to Morden. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Morden bowed slightly. “I look forward to it.”

Caldera walked off around the left-hand curve of the balcony. She was heading in Sagash’s direction, and I had to fight off the impulse to eavesdrop. Watching those two bounce off each other would be interesting, as long as I was at a safe distance. “Can I assume you’re here to support my proposal?” Morden asked.

Was that why the real Avis was breaking his usual habits and showing up? I
really
should have done more digging on what Morden was up to. “Not in a million years,” I said. I didn’t bother disguising my voice; trying to play those kinds of games with someone like Morden is a waste of time. “What do you want?”

“I believe that’s my line.”

Onyx had come up to the balcony again. Luckily this time he’d turned the wrong way, but he’d be back. “I’m a little short on time,” I said. “Could we hurry this up?”

“You know, Verus, you should learn to be more polite,” Morden said with a smile. “Someone might take offence.”

I looked at Morden. His smile didn’t waver, and I felt a brief chill. Morden doesn’t look dangerous, but he’s
very
powerful, and if he decided to make a serious attempt to get rid of me I don’t think my life would be worth much. He wouldn’t even have to do anything himself; all he’d have to do would be to point Onyx in my direction. He hadn’t—yet—but I started mentally planning out escape routes, and this time I kept my mouth shut.

“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.