Fated: An Alex Verus Novel (14 page)

Luna looked at me for a long moment, very still. When she spoke, her voice was suddenly cold. ‘Are you making fun of me?’

I stared at her. ‘What?’

‘I can’t touch anyone. You know that. If this is a joke—’

‘Luna!’ I touched my fingers to the ribbon. ‘Arachne made this specially for you. It’s the same spell as your curse, but inverted; it absorbs it. As long as you’re near it, Starbreeze’ll be fine, and so will I.’

Luna’s mask wavered, and I saw she was uncertain. She looked from me to Starbreeze, still floating off to one side. I held out my hand and she took one hesitant step forward, almost within arm’s length. Then she gave a shiver and backed away, shaking her head. ‘No.’

I dropped my hand. ‘Luna, it’ll be fine.’

‘You don’t know that! How can you tell?’

‘I don’t know, maybe because I can see the future?’ I stopped and took a deep breath. Being snarky wasn’t going to help. ‘I know you can’t see how this thing works. But trust me, it does.’

Luna shook her head.

‘Look, I thought you were getting on with Arachne? She obviously likes you; she wouldn’t go to this much trouble for anyone. Take her word for it.’

‘No.’

‘Goddamn it! What are you planning to do, sit here all night?’

Luna shook her head again. Her face had firmed, and her voice was steady. ‘I’ll get there on my own. It was at Canary Wharf, right? I can find my way.’

‘No you
can’t
. You won’t make it halfway across London before Cinder and Khazad and that woman find you, and your curse can’t protect you from
one
Dark mage, much less three!’

‘I guess I’ll have to take the chance.’

‘It’s not a chance! You’re as good as dead if you go out there!’

‘And
you’re
as good as dead if I touch you!’

I stopped, staring. Luna glared at me, then caught her breath as she realised what she’d just said. She closed her eyes, inhaled, and straightened her back. When she opened her eyes, she looked calm again. ‘Thank you for trying, really. But it’s fine.’

‘That’s it, isn’t it?’ I said slowly. ‘You’re afraid.’

Luna went still, then shook herself. ‘It’s okay,’ she said levelly. ‘You go with Starbreeze.’

‘You’re scared of what’ll happen.’ I gave a short laugh. ‘Look, you don’t need to worry. It’ll be fine.’

Luna stared at me. ‘You think it’s funny?’

‘No.’ I caught myself. ‘Look, there’s nothing to be scared of—’

‘You don’t know that.’ There was an edge in Luna’s voice.

‘Yes, I do.’

‘You don’t know everything.’

‘I know enough about this—’

‘
Shut up!
’

I rocked back, and Luna took a pace forward, glaring at me. ‘You always think you know everything. You don’t! You don’t know what it’s like, you’ve never
felt
what it’s like. Stop acting like you do!’

I stared. I’d never seen Luna like this. She’d never before even raised her voice. ‘Luna—’

‘
Stop it!
Stop telling me what to do! I don’t want your—I don’t want—’ Luna’s voice wobbled and she swallowed. I took a step forward, but she jumped back, glaring at me. ‘No! Stay away from me!’

I took a deep breath. Luna stared at me, fighting back tears, and I tried to figure out what I needed to say. ‘Look,’ I said at last. ‘You’ve always trusted me so far. Trust me now.’

‘No! I haven’t— I mean—’ Luna turned away, running a hand through her hair, breathing fast. ‘I can’t, I— You don’t know what you’re asking. I can’t get close, I—’

‘If Arachne says something works, it works. You won’t hurt me.’

Luna drew in a shaky breath. ‘Alex, you don’t know what it’s like. The only way I can live is if I tell myself it has to be this way. If I let myself—’ She realised what she was saying and put a hand to her mouth, fright in her eyes.

I looked at Luna, standing alone and frightened on the hillside, and finally understood. All I could feel now was pity. I held out my hand to her. ‘Luna—’

But as Luna recognised the expression in my eyes, she finally snapped. ‘Stop looking at me like that!
Stop feeling sorry for me!
’ She took a step back. ‘I’m not going to the ball. I don’t want to be with you. Get away from me!’

I tried to keep my voice calm. ‘It’s okay—’

‘
Shut up!
’ Luna shouted. ‘I’m sick of you and I’m sick of your
stupid
magic and I’m sick of you pretending you know everything. I don’t want you to teach me anything any more.
Leave me alone!
’

You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not the most tolerant of people. I have a really low bar for how much crap I’ll take from others, and I especially hate getting pushed around by people I’m trying to help. Probably one of the reasons I can never get a girlfriend, but that’s another story. The sensible part of me knew that Luna was just saying these things to try and make me lose my temper. Trouble was, it was working. I sucked in a breath and, out of sight, flexed my left hand, clenching it into a fist, then letting it relax. When I spoke, my voice even sounded
calm. Mostly. ‘Let’s get one thing clear,’ I said. ‘I am not leaving you out here with a bunch of Dark mages hunting you.’

‘It’s not your choice!’

‘Yes, it is,’ I snapped. ‘I don’t care how stupid you’re acting, I’m not going to let you kill yourself.’

‘Try and stop me.’ Luna’s eyes were wide, and she was breathing fast. She was standing a few paces away, half turned and poised to run. It would only take one more push to make her flee, and I had the nasty feeling that in the state she was in she might just be able to outrun me. I took a breath, and went still. ‘You know what?’ I said as I let my leg muscles coil. ‘Fine.’

I was on Luna before she had the chance for more than a yelp. She tried to spring back, but I got one hand on her wrist and the other around her shoulders. And as I did, I came into range of her curse. To my mage’s sight, Luna’s curse is a silver-grey mist, following her like a cloud. As soon as I started towards her, it had stretched out towards me, silvery tendrils reaching out eagerly. If I didn’t trust Arachne so well, I don’t think I’d have had the nerve to make the jump.

But the tendrils never reached my body. As they touched my clothes, they twisted downwards, curving away to soak into the ribbon like water into a sponge. Silver mist poured steadily from Luna, flowing off my clothes like water off a duck’s back. The ribbon absorbed it all and, as I watched, its corners began to darken. Around that point, though, I stopped having any attention to spare.

I’m a head taller, fifty pounds heavier, and a good bit more skilled than Luna, so I’d been thinking I wouldn’t have much trouble keeping hold. However, it was at this
point I first learned that holding on to a healthy and active twenty-two-year-old girl who’s seriously trying to break free is a lot like trying to give a cat a bath. The whole thing lasted about thirty seconds, and it was claws, knees and elbows the whole way.

By the time things slowed down, I was holding Luna with one arm behind her back and my right arm across her neck, just tight enough to keep her pinned without pressing into her throat. Luna’s other hand was gripping my forearm, trying to drag it away, and Starbreeze was watching from a few yards away, absolutely fascinated. She was obviously having a great time.

‘All right,’ I managed at last. Luna had landed an elbow in my stomach and it was making it hard to catch my breath. ‘Stop trying to tear my arm off and listen.’

Luna kept pulling a second longer, then she sagged suddenly, going limp. Her shoulders shook.

‘Better,’ I said. Luna’s head was turned away from me, so I had to talk into her ear. ‘First, your curse isn’t touching me. You should be able to tell that since I’m holding onto you without being hit by a meteor or something. Now, we’re going to the ball. Once you get there you can do whatever the hell you like. But I’m not cutting you loose until then. Understand?’

There was a long pause. ‘Yes,’ Luna said at last in a muffled voice.

‘All right,’ I said. ‘Starbreeze? Take us to the ball.’

‘Hurt,’ Starbreeze said doubtfully.

‘It’ll be okay. She won’t hurt you.’

‘Well …’ Starbreeze brightened. ‘Okay!’ She swept in around us and once again my body thinned to air. Stray wisps of the curse brushed Starbreeze, but most of
it was pulled into the ribbon, and a second later we were floating.

Luna gasped, but it was done before she could react. Our bodies were air, drifting apart. I was still holding Luna’s hand, but it felt like slippery glass. I couldn’t have kept my grip if she’d pulled away, but
she
was holding onto
me
now, both hands latched on tight. Starbreeze took off and the ground blurred beneath us as we soared into the sky.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that flight. There was something primal about it, excitement and anticipation mixed together. There was danger behind and danger ahead, but now we were free. The fight was forgotten, left behind on the distant ground. I’d flown with Starbreeze many times before, but never with someone to share it.

London is amazing by night. Instead of the grid pattern of most cities, its streets twist and turn, and from above every one of them is outlined by streetlights. The parks are patches of shadow, the main roads glowing rivers. The Thames is a dark snake winding through the centre, its banks lit up with the waterfront buildings, boats and bridges leaving dots and slashes of light across its dark waters. Above, the stars shone down out of a cloudless sky, Orion and Cassiopeia looking down on us. Starbreeze flew higher and higher, leaving the bustle and danger of the city far below.

At one point I dragged my gaze away from the lights of the city below to watch Luna. Her shape was misty and transparent, and she was gazing down at the view, drinking it in. All I could see of her was her eyes, and there was something timeless in them, like distant stars. Only the pressure of her hand reassured me that she was still there.

I felt a strange sense of loss when Starbreeze finally began to circle downwards. The skyscrapers of the Docklands appeared below us, growing larger and larger, then we were racing past them, plummeting between the towers of steel and glass. The ground rushed up to meet us, halted, and Starbreeze brought us down to the stone gently as a feather. Canary Wharf towered before us.

The official name for the tower at the centre of the Docklands is One Canada Square, but everyone in London calls it Canary Wharf. It’s the tallest building in Britain, eight hundred feet high to the flashing double strobe at the top, and it dominates the London skyline, a symbol of wealth and power. Officially the whole tower is office space, and since it’s not open to the public there’s no one to say otherwise. Starbreeze had dropped us off within a small park in the shadow of some trees and, looking forward, I could see other couples on the plaza, moving towards the blaze of light that was the tower itself. I felt awake and alive, on full alert. There was work to be done.

At my side, Luna was peering up at the tower. She looked as though she might have been crying, but the journey had wiped away any tears, and her face was unreadable. I stood waiting to see if she’d speak, but instead she looked down and began to shiver, wrapping her shawl around her bare arms. Canary Wharf is right in the middle of a meander of the Thames, and a cold wind was blowing off the water. ‘Let’s get inside,’ I said.

‘I’m fine,’ Luna said, still shivering.

I sighed inwardly, put my arm around Luna and started walking her towards the distant entrance. She didn’t resist. ‘There are anterooms,’ I said. ‘I’ll find you somewhere safe.’

Luna shook her head mutely. I looked down at her. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I’m going with you.’

‘What?’

Luna didn’t look up and I rolled my eyes heavenwards, just barely stopping myself from saying something that I knew would make things worse. First I had to drag her here, now she was refusing to leave. I can see the freaking
future
and women still don’t make sense. ‘All right,’ I said at last, once I’d gotten myself under control. ‘You’re going into a place where knowledge is power. Don’t reveal anything about yourself. You shouldn’t even introduce yourself as “Luna” if you don’t have to, and don’t for God’s sake tell anyone your full name. Mages put people into two groups. There are other mages, and then there are sheep. Just by showing up here you’re proving you’re not a sheep. But all that’s going to depend on how they see you, and they’re going to be judging you every second you’re there. The people in there aren’t your enemies – well, mostly – but they aren’t your friends, either. Don’t let down your guard.’

The wind returned, ruffling my hair, and this time it wasn’t cold. I looked up to see Starbreeze floating above me, back in her invisible form. ‘You’re staying?’

Starbreeze pointed up cheerfully at the tower. ‘Make another lightning man?’

Luna looked from me to Starbreeze. She still couldn’t see her but was getting used to guessing where the air elemental was floating. ‘Lightning man?’

‘Don’t ask.’

Starbreeze swirled around our heads and Luna glanced up at her passing. ‘She thinks you’re going to make things fun?’